Mother’s Day weekend can be a fruitful one at the box office as families all around the country are looking to do something nice for their moms. That panned out pretty well for several movies this year but, unfortunately for Warner Bros., Mortal Kombat II wasn’t the number one movie of choice for moms out there. Surprising, I know.
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The Devil Wears Prada 2, rather, topped the charts for a second weekend in a row with an estimated $43 million domestically. That represents a mere 44% drop for the fashion-forward sequel, which has already made well over $400 million worldwide. Mortal Kombat II, directed by Simon McQuoid, had to settle for second place with an estimated $40 million. It was a close race but MK2 was a little more front-loaded, which gave Prada the edge.
On paper, looking purely at North American grosses, it’s a win for WB and all involved. 2021’s Mortal Kombat made just $84 million worldwide, hampered greatly by the pandemic and a simultaneous HBO Max release. It earned just $42 million domestically in total. Again, that makes this opening look fantastic and, in a lot of ways, it is. The problem? International audiences weren’t all that interested in it.
The R-rated video game movie sequel earned just $23 million overseas in its debut, far behind pre-release estimates. That gives it a $63 million global start. The 2021 movie was about a 50/50 split between domestic and international audiences. Given that Warner Bros. spent $80 million to produce the follow-up, the hope was that global viewers would turn out this time around. Thus far, that hasn’t been the case.
Mortal Kombat II sees the fan favorite champions – now joined by Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) pitted against one another in the ultimate, no-holds barred, gory battle to defeat the dark rule of Shao Kahn that threatens the very existence of the Earthrealm. Other newcomers to the cast this time included Tati Gabrielle as Jade and Adeline Rudolph as Kitana.
WB has very high hopes for this franchise as they’ve already commissioned a script for a possible Mortal Kombat 3. In order for that to make sense, this movie is going to have to leg out in the coming weeks, despite very stiff competition from the likes of The Mandalorian and Grogu as May rolls on and summer heats up. For now, it’s something of a very qualified win but its fate will be sealed in weekends two and three.
For horror fans, Curry Baker’s much-anticipated Obsession hits theaters this upcoming weekend alongside In The Grey and Is God Is. On May 22, the road trip movie from hell, Passenger, opens on alongside The Mandalorian and Grogu. The month ends with a bang as A24 brings Backrooms to a theater near you.
