Movie

Receiving generally positive reviews from critics, the Ryan Reynolds-starring movie only sees a 33.8 percent drop in its second week for a 3-day tally of approximately $18.8 million.

• Aug 23, 2021

AceShowbiz - "Free Guy" continues to surprise everyone in its second week. Having exceeded industry estimates with its $28.4 million opening gross, the sci-fi action comedy film shows another rarity as it holds on to the first place on North American box office on its second weekend.

The Shawn Levy-directed pic adds an estimated $18.8 million, seeing only a 33.8 drop from its first weekend, which is very rare even outside the pandemic era. For most films, a 50% to 60% drop in the second week is common.

"We don't see 34% drops like this very often, particularly in the pandemic era," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. In fact, "Free Guy" had the best hold from its first to second week of any film that opened with more than $10 million in ticket sales in the last year.

Further commenting on the movie's performance, Dergarabedian credited its lead star Ryan Reynolds, " 'Free Guy' offered proof that even in this unusual marketplace good old-fashioned word-of-mouth, and a very socially engaged Ryan Reynolds, can propel a theatrical exclusive film to solid second-weekend business."

Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice.com, also gushed over what this feat signifies, "It's another great signal for what a crowd-pleasing film can achieve in theaters. The conversation around this movie is sticking in a way that is wholly unique to the cinematic experience and distribution path."

"Free Guy" strong second week performance manages to block "PAW Patrol: The Movie" from debuting atop the box office. Driving its way to the chart at No. 2, the animated big screen adaptation of the popular children's series pulled in approximately $13 million on its first weekend.

"Jungle Cruise" is another holdover at No. 3 with an estimated $6.2 million, bringing it closer to cross the $100 million mark as it has raked in $92.5 million domestically so far. "Don't Breathe 2" drops two spots to No. 4 with an estimated addition of $5 million, while "Respect" slips to No. 5 with approximately $3.8 million.

Top 10 of North America Box Office (Aug. 20-22, 2021):

1. "Free Guy" - $26.5 million
2. "PAW Patrol: The Movie" - $10.6 million
3. "Jungle Cruise" - $6.2 million
4. "Don't Breathe 2" - $5 million
5. "Respect" - $3.8 million
6. "The Suicide Squad" - $3.4 million
7. "The Protege" - $2.9 million
8. "The Night House" - $2.87 million
9. "Reminiscence" - $2 million
10. "Black Widow" - $1.2 million