Warner Bros. Pictures’ new Mortal Kombat movie got some unexpected competition from Funimation’s Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train at the domestic box office this weekend. The result was that for the first time in over a year, two movies opened with more than $10 million.
Opening in first place was Mortal Kombat, which grossed $22.5 million from 3,073 theaters. The film has become Warner Bros.’ fourth of the year to open at No. 1 and the studio has nine weeks out of 17 in the No. 1 position so far in 2021.
Internationally, Mortal Kombat brought in $6.3 million this weekend and is up to $27.6 million, for a worldwide total of $50.1 million from 38 markets. The top overseas markets include Russia with $10.7 million and Australia with $3.2 million.
Receiving a B+ CinemaScore from audiences, Mortal Kombat is also streaming on HBO Max for 31 days from theatrical release.
Directed by Simon McQuoid, Mortal Kombat stars Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Mehcad Brooks as Jackson “Jax” Bridges, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang; with Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han and Sub-Zero, and Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion.
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Also featured are Max Huang as Kung Lao, Sisi Stringer as Mileena, Matilda Kimber as Emily Young, and Laura Brent as Allison Young.
Demon Slayer debuted in second place with $19.5 million from 1,605 locations, an impressive $12,213 per location. Demon Slayer is now the sixth highest-grossing anime film in North American box office history.
The film, which is available in both English dub as well as subtitled, opened in October 2020 in Japan and has grossed over $444 million globally. The movie is now the highest-grossing anime and Japanese film (animated or live action) of all time.
Directed by Haruo Sotozaki, Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train has Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu, and Inosuke embark on a new mission.
Together with one of the most powerful swordsmen of the Demon Slayer Corps, Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku, they investigate the mysterious disappearance of over 40 people aboard the Mugen Train.
Dropping from first to third place, Warner Bros. and Legendary’s Godzilla vs. Kong added $4.2 million its fourth weekend and has now grossed $86.6 million domestically. Overseas, the film posted $5.7 million and has collected $320 million, for a global sum of $406.6 million (with $183.1 million coming from China).
Godzilla vs Kong was directed by Adam Wingard and stars Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri, Eiza González, Jessica Henwick, Julian Dennison, Kyle Chandler, and Demián Bichir.
Universal Pictures’ action-thriller Nobody earned $1.86 million in the fourth spot and has brought in $21.7 million after five weeks. Internationally, the movie has reached $16.5 million and its worldwide total is $38.2 million.
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Nobody was directed by Ilya Naishuller and stars Bob Odenkirk, Christopher Lloyd, and RZA.
Rounding out the top five was Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon, which earned $1.68 million and has grossed $39.8 million after eight weeks at domestic theaters. The movie is also available to watch on Disney+ with Premier Access.
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Directed by Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada, Raya and the Last Dragon features the voices of Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Izaac Wang, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Benedict Wong, Jona Xiao, Sandra Oh, Thalia Tran, Lucille Soong, Alan Tudyk, and more.
Also, Screen Gems supernatural horror movie The Unholy added $1.4 million in sixth place and has earned $11.5 million after four weeks. Internationally, the film earned $1.9 million from 12 markets this weekend.
Written and directed by Evan Spiliotopoulos, The Unholy stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Katie Aselton, William Sadler, Cricket Brown, Diogo Morgado, and Cary Elwes. It is based on the James Herbert book The Shrine.