Receipts: ‘Sound of Freedom’ Rakes it in, ‘The Little Mermaid’ Falls Short
Domestic: Sound of Freedom has now grossed over $100 million in box office revenue, an impressive feat for its modest estimated budget of around $14.5 million. Though critics have given the film mixed reviews, audiences have lauded the two-hour picture, which currently holds a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Directed by Alejandro Monteverde and produced by Eduardo Verástegui, Sound of Freedom is based on a true story. It follows Operation Underground Railroad, a faith-based guerilla group tackling human trafficking with sting operations. When a federal agent learns that a boy he rescued still has a sister in captivity, he undertakes a perilous mission in the Colombian jungle to save her. After an opening week that pulled in just under $22 million, the film raked in $36.5 million in its second week and $46.1 million for the week of July 14-20, for a total domestic gross of $124.7 million. Sound of Freedom features Eduardo Verástegui, Garardo Taracena, Gustavo Sánchez Parra, and José Zúñiga, with Jim Caviezel starring as Tim Ballard.
Joy Ride continues to struggle at the box office as it comes up on its third week in release. Though the film has received rave reviews, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 91%, the week of July 21-23 saw a domestic gross of only $350,000, an 87% drop from the previous week. Joy Ride has thus far grossed $12.5 million domestically, barely over a third of its estimated $32 million budget. The film stars Stephanie Hsu, Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Sabrina Wu, and Desmond Chiam. It is the first film directed by Crazy Rich Asians writer Adele Lim.
Amid polarizing media discourse, The Little Mermaid (2023), starring Halle Bailey, is approaching a $300 million domestic gross in its eighth week of release. The week of July 14-20 saw the film pull in $3.85 million at the domestic box office, a 36.2% dip from the previous week. Though these numbers seem impressive, the film’s production budget is estimated at $250 million, with an additional $140 million reportedly spent on marketing. Two months on, it has yet to reach the numbers it needs to break even. After Halle Bailey’s casting, The Little Mermaid became the topic of heated online debates about a Black actor starring in the historically white role. Reviews tend to split along ideological lines, though the film has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 94% among audiences and 67% among critics. In this latest addition to the Little Mermaid universe, the original story of Ariel is retold, seeing the young mermaid make a deal with evil sea witch Ursula to become human in pursuit of experiencing life above the sea. The Little Mermaid stars Halle Bailey, Simone Ashley, Awkwafina, and Daveed Diggs, along with Melissa McCarthy and Javier Bardem.
International: Japanese animated feature Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine is approaching a $100 million gross in Japan. The anime film beat Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One for the top spot at the box office, even topping Barbie, which took fourth place. According to the film’s distributor CJ ENM, Black Iron Submarine pulled in the highest number of audiences of any previous films in the franchise. In its 14 weeks of release, the film has grossed $96.4 million in Japan and $97.1 million worldwide. The film follows a young detective named Conan who must defeat an underground organization that tries to commandeer dangerous artificial intelligence technology. Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine stars Minami Takayama, Wakana Yamazaki, Rikiya Koyama, Megumi Hayashibara, Yukitoshi Hori, Fumihiko Tachiki, Mami Koyama, Tōru Furuya, Shūichi Ikeda, and Ikki Sawamura. It currently holds a 7.7/10 on IMDb.
Streaming: Extraction 2 is maintaining its spot in the Netflix Global Top 10 for the fifth week in a row, sitting at #4 with 10.8 million hours viewed this week. Though it fell from its #2 spot last week, the film’s impressive run seems to have no end in sight. The 2021 film follows commando Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) on a treacherous quest to save a gangster’s family from prison. The two-hour film stars Golshifteh Farahani, Chris Hemsworth, Olga Kurylenko, Tinatin Dalakishivili, and Rudhraksh Jaiswal and boasts a 76% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
65 has found itself in Netflix’s Global Top 10 for the first time after its July 8th streaming premiere, sitting at #2 with 10.5 million hours viewed. Despite a 35% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has fared better with audiences and rocketed to the top of Netflix’s charts shortly after it was made available on the platform. 65 follows pilot Mills, who finds himself stranded on a 65-million-year-old version of Earth with one other survivor, Koa. Together, they must traverse the unfamiliar Earth where they find themselves in pursuit of their one chance at rescue. The thriller stars Ariana Greenblatt, Chloe Coleman, Nika King, Alexandra Shipp, and Adam Driver.