Weapons Emerges As One Of Big Success Stories Of Summer 2025 With A Major Opening Weekend At The Box Office

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Historically, studios tend not to release buzzworthy films in August due to a variety of factors such as people being busy with vacations or preparing for school. However, Zach Cregger’s “Weapons” has bucked this trend by becoming one of the most talked-about horror movies of the year already. Despite it still being a few weeks away from Halloween, this film hit the big screen last Friday and has already proven to be a box office success after only three days.

This past weekend saw a fierce fight at the box office, with the movie “Weapons” going head-to-head against Nisha Ganatra’s “Freakier Friday,” as well as established hits like Matt Shakman’s “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.” However, it seems that audiences were in the mood for a good scare this weekend, leading to impressive box office numbers. You can find the complete Top 10 in the chart below and stick around for my analysis afterward.

TITLEWEEKEND GROSSDOMESTIC GROSSTHTRS
1. Weapons*$42,500,000$42,500,0003,202
2. Freakier Friday*$29,000,000$29,000,0003,975
3. The Fantastic Four: First Steps$15,500,000$230,412,7093,600
4. The Bad Guys 2$10,400,000$43,409,0003,860
5. The Naked Gun$8,375,000$33,010,0003,363
6. Superman$7,800,000$331,243,0002,920
7. Jurassic World Rebirth$4,700,000$326,800,0002,691
8. F1$2,835,000$178,581,0001,351
9. Together$2,600,000$17,210,6622,225
10. Sketch*$2,527,285$5,018,6912,157

Riding High On Great Buzz, Weapons Surpassed Expectations For Its Box Office Opening Weekend

Over the past week, predictions were made suggesting that the new movie “Weapons” would earn between $25-$30 million in its first weekend at theaters. It’s always a positive indication for the industry when a film surpasses such expectations. Following the success of “Barbarian,” Zach Cregger’s latest production, has been building anticipation for weeks. Notably, the movie has already recouped its reported budget, indicating a successful start to its theatrical run.

Based on recent box office figures, massive crowds have flocked to see Weapons since its cinema release last week. It earned an impressive $42.5 million domestically, clinching the top spot at the box office. Among major horror movie blockbusters, it had the third highest opening weekend earnings, trailing only behind Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein’s Final Destination: Bloodlines ($57 million) in May and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners ($48 million) in April. These two films went on to make $285.3 million and $365.8 million respectively, suggesting that the new horror movie is off to a promising start as it begins its run on the big screen.

Without a doubt, a significant factor behind this achievement is the widespread positive buzz about the movie in recent times. Viewers have been captivated by the unexpected elements of the film “Barbarian“, which stunned everyone with its unprecedented number one debut at the box office last year. The anticipation for Zach Cregger’s latest work has grown significantly due to glowing reviews and promises that the surprises in store are even more impressive than his earlier works (I was among those eagerly awaiting its release, having given it a five-star review for TopMob). Recognizing it as a must-see title right away, audiences have reaped substantial rewards from their early viewings.

Apart from earning rave reviews from film critics, the movie “Weapons” is fortunate to receive similar enthusiasm from audiences as well. For instance, CinemaScore surveys awarded it an “A-” grade, which, while lower than the “A” that “Sinners” received, surpasses the “B+” rating given to “Final Destination: Bloodlines.” If everything goes as anticipated, those who enjoyed the film over the past three days will share their positive experiences with friends, leading to a relatively small decline in box office results when I report on them next Sunday.

According to the deadline, the production and acquisition of the script for the film titled “Weapons” cost New Line Cinema approximately $38 million. Considering there are additional publicity and advertising costs yet to be accounted for, the movie is currently in a strong financial position.

In just three days, the film has earned $42.5 million domestically and an additional $27.5 million from international markets, bringing its total earnings to $70 million. This early success is quite remarkable for a non-IP title, and it already ranks among the Top 35 highest-grossing movies of the year.

The industry’s response to this release is bound to be intriguing, given that the success of a film like “Weapons” wasn’t necessarily expected, considering the various market factors at play currently. With original horror experiencing a remarkable resurgence, it’ll be fascinating to see how this movie elevates the genre’s anticipated potential in the near future.

Freakier Friday Easily Lands In Second Place As The Fantastic Four: First Steps Takes Another Tough Tumble

Mentioned earlier are films like “Weapons,” “Final Destination: Bloodlines,” and “Sinners,” all produced by Warner Bros., which has had a successful year. The studio’s success has been further boosted by the global box office earnings of Joseph Kosinski’s “F1” ($570.7 million) and James Gunn’s “Superman” ($578.8 million). However, recent releases from Disney have not performed as well, with the notable exception being Dean Fleisher Camp’s remake of “Lilo & Stitch.” This trend continued over the past three days, as neither “Freakier Friday” nor “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” had the weekends they were anticipating.

Over the weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter, both “Freaky Friday” and “Weapons” were predicted to earn between $25-$30 million. However, contrary to expectations, the horror movie overtook the comedy sequel starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan. While “Freaky Friday,” distributed by Disney, managed to secure a $29 million take and finish in second place, this is not an outstanding performance given its opening weekend (as reported by Variety, it was produced with a budget of $42 million).

The outcome isn’t particularly impressive, but it’s a glimmer of hope contrasted to the struggles of the latest Fantastic Four film. Initially, with its release in late July and August being traditionally slow for blockbusters, there was high anticipation that the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie would rule the roost during the last month of summer. However, this prediction seems far from accurate now. Despite receiving positive reviews and audience responses, the cast including Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s film is rapidly losing steam at the box office.

Over the weekend ending on Sunday, there was a dramatic 67% decrease in its box office performance compared to its highly successful opening weekend. The simultaneous releases of “Weapons” and “Freakier Friday” may have contributed to this decline as well. Compared to the previous weekend, ticket sales dropped another 60%, resulting in earnings of $15.5 million over the last three days. This brings its domestic total to $230.4 million so far, with a global total of $434.2 million. While it’s not a flop, it falls short of the level of success that Marvel Studios had anticipated.

What impact will the release of Timo Tjahjanto’s “Nobody 2” and Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest” have on the rankings of the Top 10 films, as they hit theaters on Friday? Don’t forget to check back with us at TopMob next Sunday for our comprehensive analysis.

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2025-08-11 00:43