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‘Furiosa,’ ‘Garfield’ Lead Slowest Memorial Day Box Office in Decades

Cast member Anya Taylor-Joy attends the UK premiere of "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" in London, Britain, May 17, 2024. (Reuters)
Cast member Anya Taylor-Joy attends the UK premiere of "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" in London, Britain, May 17, 2024. (Reuters)
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‘Furiosa,’ ‘Garfield’ Lead Slowest Memorial Day Box Office in Decades

Cast member Anya Taylor-Joy attends the UK premiere of "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" in London, Britain, May 17, 2024. (Reuters)
Cast member Anya Taylor-Joy attends the UK premiere of "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" in London, Britain, May 17, 2024. (Reuters)

Movie theaters are looking more and more like a wasteland this summer. Neither “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” nor “The Garfield Movie” could save Memorial Day weekend, which is cruising towards a two-decade low.

“Furiosa,” the Mad Max prequel starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth, claimed the first place spot for the Friday-Saturday-Sunday weekend with $25.6 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday. Warner Bros. is waiting until Monday to release its four-day estimates.

“The Garfield Movie,” animated and family-friendly, was the other big new offering this weekend from Sony’s Columbia Pictures and Alcon Entertainment. It is claiming No. 1 for the four-day holiday weekend with an estimated $31.9 million in ticket sales through Memorial Day. Sony estimates its three-day earnings to be $24.8 million.

Aside from Memorial Day in 2020 when theaters were closed due to COVID-19, these are the lowest earning No. 1 movies in 29 years, since “Casper” earned $22.5 million (not adjusted for inflation) in its first four days in 1995. Big earners are more typical for the holiday weekend, which has had ten movies crack $100 million, led by “Top Gun: Maverick’s” record-setting $160 million launch in 2022.

Last year, the live-action “The Little Mermaid” joined the group with a $118 million debut. Audiences even turned out in greater numbers over the pandemic-addled weekend in 2021 for “A Quiet Place Part II,” which made over $57 million.

“Furiosa” was never expected to join the $100 million opener club, which Warner Bros. released on 3,804 screens in the US and Canada. But it was supposed to have a slightly stronger showing in the $40 million range over its first four days. That would have been more in line with its predecessor, “Mad Max: Fury Road,” which opened to $45.4 million in May 2015. “Fury Road,” starring Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy, went on to gross nearly $380 million worldwide.

This new origin story in which Taylor-Joy plays a younger version of Theron’s character had a lot of things going for it, too, including strong reviews out of the just-wrapped Cannes Film Festival (it has an 89% on Rotten Tomatoes) and a splashy international press tour with many buzzy premiere looks from Taylor-Joy. With a reported $168 million production budget, not accounting for marketing and promotion, “Furiosa” has a long road to profitability.

“The Garfield Movie,” meanwhile, was more modestly budgeted, at a reported $60 million. Chris Pratt voices the lasagna-loving, Monday-hating orange cat in the movie that got scathing reviews from critics (it has a 37% on Rotten Tomatoes). Audiences meanwhile gave both “Furiosa” and “The Garfield Movie” a B+ CinemaScore and 4.5 stars out of 5 on PostTrak.

In its second weekend, John Krasinski’s “IF” fell 53%, adding $16 million through Sunday and $20.7 million through Monday, bringing its domestic total to $63.3 million. Worldwide, it has surpassed $100 million. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” now in its third weekend, added $13.4 million through Sunday, bringing its global total to $294.8 million, making it the fourth-highest grossing film of the year.

Earlier this week, the industry trade The Hollywood Reporter asked “what happened to the $100 million opener?” Notably, 2023 has had none yet. The biggest of the year was “Dune: Part Two,” which opened to $82.5 million and went on to earn over $711 million worldwide.

The lack of a recent runaway hit just puts more pressure on the upcoming films to make up the slack. Still on the way are a slew of potential blockbusters like Paramount’s “A Quiet Place: Day One” (June 27), Universal’s “Despicable Me 4” (July 3) and “Twisters” (July 19) and two heavy-hitters from Disney: “Inside Out 2” (June 14) and “Deadpool & Wolverine” (July 26).

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Syrian Migrant Drama Opens Berlin Film Festival

German film director Tom Tykwer (C) pose with German actress Nicolette Krebitz (L) and German actor Lars Eidinger during a photo call for the film “Das Licht“ (The light) in the "Berlinale special" section of the 75th Berlinale, Europe's first major film festival of the year, in Berlin on February 13, 2025. (AFP)
German film director Tom Tykwer (C) pose with German actress Nicolette Krebitz (L) and German actor Lars Eidinger during a photo call for the film “Das Licht“ (The light) in the "Berlinale special" section of the 75th Berlinale, Europe's first major film festival of the year, in Berlin on February 13, 2025. (AFP)
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Syrian Migrant Drama Opens Berlin Film Festival

German film director Tom Tykwer (C) pose with German actress Nicolette Krebitz (L) and German actor Lars Eidinger during a photo call for the film “Das Licht“ (The light) in the "Berlinale special" section of the 75th Berlinale, Europe's first major film festival of the year, in Berlin on February 13, 2025. (AFP)
German film director Tom Tykwer (C) pose with German actress Nicolette Krebitz (L) and German actor Lars Eidinger during a photo call for the film “Das Licht“ (The light) in the "Berlinale special" section of the 75th Berlinale, Europe's first major film festival of the year, in Berlin on February 13, 2025. (AFP)

German director Tom Tykwer said Thursday that his latest movie about a Syrian immigrant aimed to encourage people to stop "isolating" themselves, as it opened Berlin's international film festival.

"The Light", screening out of competition at the Berlinale, tells the story of a middle-class Berlin family whose lives are upended when they hire a new domestic worker from Syria.

The movie marks a return to feature filmmaking after a long hiatus for Tykwer, 59, who has been focusing on the acclaimed German television series "Babylon Berlin".

In "The Light", the Engels family -- Tim, Milena and their teenage twins -- are all immersed in their separate worlds as they navigate the complexities of modern life.

But when the enigmatic Farrah, recently arrived from Syria, is placed in their home as the new housekeeper, they find themselves slowly starting to reconnect.

"Everyone is in their own aquarium with their head stuck in it," Tykwer said.

"They are stuck with their heads under water and then some energy comes from the outside and pulls them out and enables them look at each other again."

'Extra urgency'

Tykwer said the film aimed to show that better communication can help people to relate personally but also "politically".

"We have to approach each other again and stop isolating ourselves so much," he said.

The Berlinale, which ranks with Cannes and Venice among Europe's top festivals, serves as a key launchpad for films from around the world.

US writer and director Todd Haynes will head up the jury at this year's edition, with 19 pictures vying for the festival's Golden Bear top prize.

Haynes said Thursday that the world was in a "state of particular crisis" and that filmmakers had witnessed the return of US President Donald Trump "with tremendous concern, shock".

Haynes said he hoped the Berlinale, which has a reputation as the most political of the big international film festivals, would serve as a forum for digesting global events.

"This festival has always had a strength of conviction and an openness to a challenging and political discourse and bringing that into the filmmaking, and what's happening in the world right now has put an extra urgency to all of that," he told reporters.

This year's Berlinale winds up on February 23, the same day as a snap election in Germany, called after the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition late last year.

The campaign ahead of the election has been bitterly divisive, with the far-right AfD surging in the polls.

'Resistance'

Last year, Berlinale organizers made headlines by barring five previously invited AfD politicians and telling them they were "not welcome".

Berlinale director Tricia Tuttle said cinema could be an act of "resistance... to all of the perverse ideas that many far-right parties across the whole world and across Europe are spreading".

"This is a space where we want to come together and listen to each other and communicate through cinema... I think the very fact we're all here is a resistance," she said.

Films in competition at the Berlinale include "Dreams", from Mexican director Michel Franco, about a Mexican ballet dancer, and "What Does that Nature Say to You", from South Korean arthouse favorite Hong Sang-soo.

Hollywood director Richard Linklater will present "Blue Moon", starring Ethan Hawke, 11 years after Linklater won Berlin's Silver Bear for Best Director for "Boyhood".

Romanian director Radu Jude, who won the Golden Bear in 2021, is in the running with "Kontinental '25", a dark comedy about the rise of nationalism.

And France's Lucile Hadzihalilovic will present "The Ice Tower", a fantasy drama starring Marion Cotillard.

South Korean director Bong Joon-ho will present out of competition his new film "Mickey 17" with Robert Pattinson, and British actor Tilda Swinton will receive a lifetime achievement award.