‘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).



South Korean Actor Kim Soo-Hyun Denies Underage Dating Accusation

South Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun sheds tears during a press conference at a hotel in Seoul, South Korea, 31 March 2025, to deny underage dating allegations involving late actress Kim Sae-ron and offer an apology for causing controversy. (EPA/Yonhap)
South Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun sheds tears during a press conference at a hotel in Seoul, South Korea, 31 March 2025, to deny underage dating allegations involving late actress Kim Sae-ron and offer an apology for causing controversy. (EPA/Yonhap)
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South Korean Actor Kim Soo-Hyun Denies Underage Dating Accusation

South Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun sheds tears during a press conference at a hotel in Seoul, South Korea, 31 March 2025, to deny underage dating allegations involving late actress Kim Sae-ron and offer an apology for causing controversy. (EPA/Yonhap)
South Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun sheds tears during a press conference at a hotel in Seoul, South Korea, 31 March 2025, to deny underage dating allegations involving late actress Kim Sae-ron and offer an apology for causing controversy. (EPA/Yonhap)

South Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun on Monday denied allegations that he dated the actress Kim Sae-ron when she was underage, breaking down in tears as he said he could not "admit what is not true."

Brands including Prada have cut ties with the actor amid the controversy over his relationship with Kim Sae-ron, who was found dead in February in a suspected suicide. She was 24.

The 37-year-old Kim said he dated Kim Sae-ron five years ago for about a year, but not when she was underage. He said a YouTube expose released earlier this month cited testimonies and evidence that were false, including screenshots of messages that could not be from the actress.

Kim Sae-ron was born in July 2000. The age of consent in South Korea is 16.

"I did not date the deceased when she was a minor. And it is also not true that the deceased made a tragic choice because of me turning a blind eye," Kim told a press conference on Monday, alluding to claims that their relationship led to her suicide.

Lawyers representing Kim Soo-hyun and his agency said on Monday they had sued people involved in the YouTube expose for a total of 12 billion won ($8.15 million) in damages, and reported them to the authorities for defamation and violation of the information protection act.

A lawyer representing the relatives of Kim Sae-ron could not immediately be reached for comment.

Kim Sae-ron was one of South Korea's most promising actresses until her career took a hit after a drunk driving incident in 2022.

Kim Soo-hyun rose to fame in South Korea and China over his role in hit South Korean drama series "My Love from the Star" and "Queen of Tears".