Alongside its world-wide domination, Creed 3 has set a record for its franchise with an unprecedented opening weekend, and the US is celebrating the biggest-ever debut for a sports movie. With ticket sales of $100.4 million, the film has solidified its place atop the global weekend box office.
Variety reported that the third installment of the Creed franchise defied expectations, surpassing its predecessors and raking in an astounding $58.7 million in its opening weekend. Analysts had earlier forecasted that the movie would generate somewhere between $36 million and $40 million in domestic ticket sales, but Creed 3 soared beyond those projections.
Internationally, Creed 3 brought in a further $41.8 million, and is on track to making up its $75 million production and associated marketing costs. This installment of the franchise is also the most costly, with the first having cost $35 million, and the second reaching an expenditure of $50 million.
“Creed III” may not be a total departure from the tried-and-tested template of a Rocky movie, yet witnessing Creed establish a tradition of his own, entirely detached from Balboa, is a thrilling turn of events for the series.
It’s quite a remarkable directorial debut for Michael B. Jordan, who stars as Adonis Creed, the son of the renowned Apollo Creed from the Rocky series. Jordan is joined by Jonathan Majors and Tessa Thompson, and this film is the inaugural entry in the much-touted Rocky-verse that is absent of Sylvester Stallone.
Speaking of remarkable accomplishments, Majors had the privileged distinction of headlining both the top-ranking movies of the weekend – Creed 3 and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The latest MCU offering raked in approximately $12 million and experienced another hefty 61% plunge from the preceding weekend. Ant-Man 3 has earned a total of $186 million domestically, surpassing the initial movie’s $180 million, and is on its course to outdo Ant-Man and the Wasp’s $216 million.
Globally, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has earned only a meager $420 million, thus likely relegating it to the least successful installment of the Ant-Man franchise when all is said and done. The original movie earned $519 million, while the sequel garnered a total of $622 million.
Though Cocaine Bear was a formidable presence, it was Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba: To the Swordsmith Village that bested it, achieving fourth place with an impressive $10.1 million and Jesus Revolution that secured the fifth spot with a total of $8.3 million. Despite its strength, Cocaine Bear still managed to come in third, amassing an impressive $11 million domestically and a global total of $52 million.
For the definitive word on Rocky and Creed, take a look at our ranking before Creed 3 arrives. Then, get the inside scoop from Michael B. Jordan himself on his grand entrance as director, plus his verification of Creed 4 and how he plans to “broaden the scope of the Creed-canon.”
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Adam Bankhurst is a scribe of sorts, delivering the latest news to the masses via IGN. You can keep track of his missives on Twitter and Twitch.
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