Box Office News: April 29 – May 1, 2022
by Emily Nagle
The end of April was a relatively quiet weekend for theaters across the U.S., with the few new titles such as “Memory” and “Acharya” not having a particularly wide release. However, this is just the calm before the storm that will erupt next weekend, when Marvel’s long-awaited “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” will premiere.
Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for Weekend of April 22-24, 2022
5. Everything Everywhere All at Once ($5.5 million)
4. The Northman ($6.4 million)
3. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore ($8.3 million)
2. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ($11.5 million)
1. The Bad Guys ($16.2 million)
Breaking into the top 5 is A24’s sci-fi black comedy “Everything Everywhere All at Once”. In an unusual pattern for an indie release, it grossed 2.2% higher than last weekend, when it grossed $5.4 million. While its opening weekend back in late March was weak, only grossing about $500 thousand, it’s been performing increasingly better since April, particularly during the long Easter weekend. Michelle Yeoh stars as struggling Chinese immigrant American Evelyn Wang, who is being audited by the IRS. An unexpected call to action comes when she discovers a multiverse; to protect the world from immense disaster, Evelyn must team up with these alternate versions of herself.
Critics love this arthouse comedy, praising it for its vibrant visuals, cast performances, and scope – “Everything” has a rich, imaginative story that addresses big themes like nihilism and existentialism. The concept of multiple realities has been toyed with in fiction for ages, but has become bigger in recent years with Marvel’s release of films like “Doctor Strange” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home“. As a result, fans of “Everything” may find themselves going to see “Multiverse of Madness”, even if they’re not particularly into the superhero genre. The film, directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (also known as the Daniels), puts a comedic spin on the multiverse concept, and has a lot of heart. Critics have said that it’s not just a tale of alternate universes, but one of family and humanity that will hit home for audiences across the world.