Matthew Vaughn’s Argylle bombed on its debut weekend with just $18 million domestically and $35M worldwide, per Deadline. Apple’s $200M action comedy boasts an all-star lineup but couldn’t overcome mediocre reviews and confusing trailers that never fully sold the premise.
Argylle represents the third dud in a row for Apple, following the ho-hum performances of Napoleon ($218.4M worldwide) and Killers of the Flower Moon ($156.4M), which cost north of $150M to produce. The trade points out that the point of these big-budget vehicles is to drive traffic to Apple TV+, so it’s hard to gauge how these mounting losses affect the studio. Clearly, it’s not a sustainable form of success.
Argylle marks Vaughn’s second box office disappointment in a row, following 2021’s The King’s Man’s $121M worldwide take. Before that, his films did reasonably well, though Kingsman: The Golden Circle remains his highest-grosser with $408M worldwide.
At any rate, the only other new release was Fathom Event’s fourth season of The Chosen, which earned $7.4M in its debut. The Beekeeper landed at No. 3 with $5.2M (-21%), while Wonka came in fourth with $4.76M (-16%).
The box office doesn’t appear to have any positives on the horizon, either. This week sees the release of the quirky comedy Lisa Frankenstein and the thriller Out of Darkness. Sony’s Madame Web swings into theaters in two weeks, but early projections have the Spider-Verse flick earning a modest $25-35M in its first weekend. Otherwise, Hollywood has to cling to dear life until Dune: Part Two arrives on March 1 and hopefully delivers the goods.
Box Office Results: Top 10
1.) Argylle (App/Uni) 3,605 theaters, Fri $6.5M Sat $6.9M Sun $4.5M 3-day$18M/ Wk 1
2.) The Chosen (Fath)2,248 theaters Fri $1.75M, Sat. $2.4M Sun $1.8M 3-day $6M/Total $7.4M/Wk 1
3.) The Beekeeper (AMZ MGM) 3,277 (-60) theaters, Fri $1.3M (-28%) Sat $2.4M Sun $1.4M 3-day $5.2M (-21%), Total $49.4M/Wk 4
4.) Wonka (WB) 2,901 (-113) theaters, Fri $1M (-24%) Sat $2.2M Sun $1.47M 3-day $4.76M (-16%), Total $201.1M/Wk 8
5.) Migration (Ill/Uni) 2,830 (-140) Fri $840K (-19%) Sat $2M Sun $1.2M 3-day $4.1M (-16%), Total $106.2M/ Wk 7
6.) Mean Girls (Par) 3,107 (-437) theaters, Fri $1M (-47%) Sat $1.8M Sun $1.1M 3-day $4M (-42%), Total $66.3M/Wk 4
7.) Anyone But You (Sony) 2,619 (-266) (-43) Fri $1M (-29%) Sat $1.5M Sun $915K 3-day $3.5M (-24%),Total $76.2M/Wk 7
8.) American Fiction (AMZ MGM) 1,902 (+200) theaters, $615K (-21%) Sat $1.08M Sun $598K 3-day $2.3M (-11%), Total $15M/Wk 8
9.) Poor Things (Sea) 1,950 (-350) Fri $592K (-30%) Sat $940K Sun $596K 3-day $2.1M (-28%)/Total $28.1M/Wk 9
10.) Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (WB) 1,742 (-376) theaters, Fri $440K (-33%) Sat $955K Sun $620K 3-day $2M (-26%) /Total $120.7M/Wk 7