THE KARATE KID: LEGENDS | BRING HER BACK openings | Where we are now | May 30 to June 1, 2025 weekend
Opening weekend box office, charts and commentary.
The current weekend: May 30 to June 1, 2025
1) The Karate Kid: Legends opening
- This is a weak opening for a Karate Kid sequel. The weekend figure is down sharply from the 2010 remake featuring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith (it opened to $55.7 million, finished with $359m worldwide, and earned an A CinemaScore). Legends is trying to invigorate the story with a new Kid — again — but business is not strong.
Critics' reviews are fair but the audience score is excellent (an A- CinemaScore). The estimated production cost was a reasonable $45m, so the film should still make a few dollars:
- Among 89 sports dramas in modern history, only Karate Kid and Rocky/Creed have grown into series. Karate Kid has a mixed history. After a strong debut and follow-up sequel in 1984 and 1986, it fell apart with two more episodes in 1989 and 1994. The 2010 remake was a big success, and now this is a step backwards.
The Rocky/Creed series is older and has more episodes (9). After winning the Academy Award for best picture in 1976, there were 6 sequels that did respectable business. The story then successfully handed off to the Creed character in 2018. The follow-up Creed sequel in 2023 showed terrific growth. That series is alive and well.
2) Bring Her Back opening
- This is a good opening for an original horror movie. The weekend figure is just above average for the genre, with outstanding critics’ reviews and an excellent audience score for a horror picture (a B+ CinemaScore).
The Australian production was co-written and directed by Danny and Michael Philippou. It’s a follow-up to their 2023 debut Talk to Me, and cost somewhere between $15 million and $20 million. It’s another well-received horror success:
Where we are now
- The box office is riding a boomlet that started in April with Minecraft. Momentum has been steady but it's always fragile — this weekend is a good example…
Early projections had Karate Kid opening as high as $40 million. It’s coming in at around half that and it’s a missed opportunity. Fortunately, holdover business is excellent (Lilo & Stitch, Mission: Impossible, Final Destination).
- On Wednesday we'll have May and year-to-date 2025 numbers. Year-to-date business is running well ahead of last year and we expect it to continue for two more weeks. But mid-June 2024 is when Inside Out 2 opened (now the top-grossing animated film of all time), so BO comparisons are going to get a lot tougher.
Our last two posts were:
THE WEDNESDAY CHARTS | Family moviegoing from 2018 to 2025 | May 28, 2025 here
LILO & STITCH | MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - THE FINAL RECKONING | THE LAST RODEO openings | May 23 to 25, 2025 Memorial Day Weekend here