This weekend gave us Austin Butler, two 1980s remakes, and one of the greatest and most successful films of all time. but none of them earned enough to beat the film that has “officially” led the box office for nearly all of August. Somewhere there will be an asterisk next to Weapons — or at least an emoji in the shape of a KPop Demon Hunter — because without those unofficial, unreported grosses from Netflix, we would be talking about Zach Cregger’s film as winning the box office for a fourth straight week, something no film has achieved since Barbie did in the summer of 2023.
King of the Crop: Weapons Retakes Lead over Long Weekend
Another Warner Bros. title for those keeping track, Weapons held off everyone once again with $10.2 million over the three-day weekend and an estimated $12.4 million through Labor Day. That puts the film’s 25-day total at $134.6 million, which is just outside the top 10 list for films in August during the same time period. Even if it may miss the overall top 10 for August releases as well (right now we would peg it for 13th place) this is just an impressive haul all around. We’ve been saying for weeks that $160 million was a real possibility and maybe as much as $300 million globally. As of this weekend, the film stands at $232 million worldwide.
Tales of the top 10: Jaws Still rules the Summer, Caught Stealing Does Decent for Darren Aronofsky
When Steven Spielberg’s Jaws opened 50 years ago on June 20, 1975, the summer movie season was changed forever. Families used to touch grass together, but now it was time to enjoy blockbuster movies in an air-conditioned theater. It became the biggest film of all time until Star Wars appeared a couple summers later. Since then, the film has had numerous re-releases across the globe, including a 2022 release over the Labor Day weekend when it grossed $3.34 million in 1,246 theaters and ultimately added another $5.8 million to its nearly half-a-billion uninflated haul across the globe. That would be an estimated $1.56 billion domestic haul for those curious, and that is just the initial run. This Labor Day weekend the film added another estimated $8.1 million over the weekend and $9.8 million through the holiday. Not too shabby for a 50-year-old.
Darren Aronofsky is always beating the hell out of his characters, and Austin Butler takes the brunt of it for his violent action-comedy Caught Stealing. Critics have liked it a bit more than his last three films, The Whale (64%), mother! (69%), and Noah (76%), which, for as much grief as those films get from some, are all still in Fresh territory. The Fountain is the only one on his resume that is not (51%). But the new one is Certified Fresh, and audiences forked over $7.8 million over the weekend and an estimated $9.5 million over the holiday. It is going to surpass the grosses of mother! and the Oscar-winning The Whale by next weekend (both ended up between $17-18 million). The Wrestler’s $26.2 million gross would be next, ultimately making this the third highest-grossing film for Aronofsky after Black Swan ($106.9 million) and Noah ($101.2 million). But that $26 million may be a long ways away, which is not great for the $40 million production.
Freakier Friday made its first (official) fall down to fourth place this week. Families may have had the KPop Demon Hunters last week, but their top choice again over the holiday was the Disney sequel, which made $6.5 million through Sunday and an estimated $8.3 million through Monday. That brings its 24-day total up to $82.2 million, making the slow climb towards $100 million. That is right on par with The Princess Diaries ($6.6 million fourth weekend and $82.3 million in 24 days), and that finished with over $108 million, making it Disney’s second-best August family event behind only the original Freaky Friday.
There were a pair of new releases this year that were remakes of films from the 1980s. The first of which, Jay Roach’s new adaptation of The War of the Roses, called just The Roses, seems to have just escaped. Dumped at the end of the summer, the 20th Century Studios release made $6 million over the weekend and an estimated $7.3 million through Monday. In December 1989, the Danny DeVito version with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner opened to $9.4 million and grossed over $86 million. This film likely won’t make a third of that domestically. Globally the film is at $17.2 million.
Universal’s animated The Bad Guys 2 made $4.7 million from Friday to Sunday, and an estimated $6.3 million including another off day for the kids on Monday brings its total up to $74.6 million. Still around $5 million behind the pace of Disney’s Planes from 2013, The Bad Guys 2 is looking for a finish around $85 million domestic. The film is at $103.5 million on the international scene. Universal wants to see that number get closer to $115-120 million and declare victory before it leaves theaters.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps has had the aura of disappointment around it, but that is really only in comparison to the pre-2020 era of Marvel. Just about any film seems like a disappointment compared to those. But here we are in week six: $4.8 million over the weekend; $6 million through the holiday; over $265 million domestic; and, more importantly, over $500 million worldwide. By general box office accounting standards, this should be a success for Marvel. Not a big one, but a win is a win. That still makes six of 11 MCU films to gross as much globally since 2020. Now they take a little break before next summer’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day and next Christmas’ Avengers: Doomsday, two films that will certainly overtake First Steps’ numbers and then some.
James Gunn’s Superman is close to ending its run in the top 10. Another $2.6 million for the weekend and $3.3 million estimated through Monday puts its total over $351 million domestic. That makes it the 20th film to pass $350 million domestic since 2020. Globally the film is at $610 million, three million behind F1: The Movie as of this weekend. Hanging on for one more week in the top ten is Nobody 2. It made $1.8 million over the weekend and an estimated $2.3 million through the holiday to get it over the $20 million line. Globally it has made only $35 million compared to $57.5 million for the original during the pandemic. Akiva Schaeffer’s The Naked Gun crossed the $50 million line this weekend, making $1.8 million and $2.2 million estimated over the holiday. That marks the 17th film this summer to pass $50 million, a number that only 14 crossed in 2024.
Beyond the Top 10: The Toxic Avenger Debuts… with a Mission
Also this weekend was Macon Blair’s reimagining of Troma’s The Toxic Avenger. Peter Dinklage stars in the film, which premiered at Fantastic Fest back in 2023. CineVerse was hoping for some Terrifier-like numbers but instead held onto it and built no further festival buzz, ending up with $1.7 million over the weekend in 1,995 theaters and $2.2 million for the holiday. CineVerse has, however, pledged $5 million to erase medical debt in connection with the movie’s depiction of corporate-sponsored healthcare — or lack thereof. And you can help make it even more by going to see the movie, because every million the film makes will increase that very pledge. The partnership is with Undue Medical Debt, a national nonprofit aimed at helping families with extensive healthcare bills.
On the Vine: Can The Conjuring Help Warner Bros. Make History?
Next week, Warner Bros. goes for another new record. Can The Conjuring: Last Rites become their seventh film in a row to open over $40 million? The first two in the franchise reached that milestone. The third film came up well shy, but will the enticement of a final entry with little major competition push it over into history? Not that there is nothing else coming out. Disney is releasing the filmed stage version of Hamilton that was released only on streaming during the pandemic. Also look for James Sweeney’s Twinless with Dylan O’Brien. The Sundance premiere is already Certified Fresh at 97% on the Tomatometer. Finally, in limited release, is Jay Duplass’ The Baltimorons, which premiered at SXSW. The lovely rom-com with Michael Strassner and Liz Larsen currently boasts a perfect 100% on the Tomatometer, including a review from yours truly.
Full List of Box Office Results: August 29 – September 1, 2025
- Weapons – $10.2 million (3-day), $12.4 million (4-day) – $134.6 million total
- Jaws – $8.1 million (3-day), $9.8 million (4-day) – $9.8 million total
- Caught Stealing – $7.8 million (3-day), $9.5 million (4-day) – $9.5 million total
- Freakier Friday – $6.5 million (3-day), $8.3 million (4-day) – $82.2 million total
- The Roses – $6.4 million (3-day), $8.0 million (4-day) – $8.0 million total
- The Bad Guys 2 – $4.7 million (3-day), $6.3 million (4-day) – $74.6 million total
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps – $4.8 million (3-day), $6.0 million (4-day) – $265.8 million total
- Superman – $2.6 million (3-day), $3.3 million (4-day) – $351.4 million total
- Nobody 2 – $1.8 million (3-day), $2.3 million (4-day) – $20.5 million total
- The Naked Gun – $1.8 million (3-day), $2.2 million (4-day) – $50.8 million total
Erik Childress can be heard each week evaluating box office on Business First AM with Angela Miles and his Movie Madness Podcast.
Thumbnail image by ©Warner Bros.
