Disney has another dud on their hands -- this time, it's "The Haunted Mansion" ... which paled in comparison to last week's big hits, including "Barbie" -- who reigns supreme again.
The Mouse House's latest offering -- featuring a star-studded cast, including the likes of Lakeith Stanfield, Rosario Dawson, Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish and others -- got off to a bad start this weekend ... having only generated $24.6 million in North America markets.
Overseas, it did even worse -- raking in only $9.1 mil, meaning worldwide ... it's got about $33 million to its name so far. The problem, the film's budget was $150 mil -- plus tens of millions that Disney reported spent to market the movie. So, yeah ... way down in the red.
"Haunted Mansion's" poor performance at the box office is emblematic of how its premiere felt ... very empty/soulless. Granted that was SAG strike related, but still -- they run parallel.
It ain't the only Disney flick of late to disappoint. The new 'Indiana Jones' didn't do so hot either -- although, their other films have done somewhat decently big picture this year. It's a mixed bag ... but it's certainly nowhere near where Bog Iger would like to see the numbers.
Elsewhere in movie land ... "Barbie" cleaned up for the 2nd week in a row. Margot Robbie and co. still had momentum from just 7 days ago, with a massive $93 million haul domestically. Mind you, that's in addition to the $162 mil from the opening weekend. And don't get us started on the international numbers ... at this point. "Barbie" has made over $750M.
"Oppenheimer," too, is riding a second wave of success. It clawed an extra $46.6 million from ticket holders this weekend ... bringing its final domestic tally to $174 million. Not half bad!
It remains to be seen whether the 'Barbenheimer' phenomenon was a fluke or if it's a trend for features to come. On its face, this feels like a viral marketing thing that took a life of its own ... morphing into an event for people. Hard to tell if folks will get as excited for others.