Monkey Man box office collection: Dev Patel’s directorial debut was made on a modest budget of $10 million.
Dev Patel’s Monkey Man, an India-set revenge thriller released by Universal Pictures, opened in 3,029 North American theaters with an estimated $10.1 million.
Monkey Man leaps to #2 BO debut
That marked a strong debut for Patel’s modestly budgeted directorial debut in which he stars in a bloody, politically charged action extravaganza. Monkey Man, which cost about $10 million to make, was dropped by its original studio, Netflix, after which Jordan Peele and his Monkeypaw Productions swooped in.
Monkey Man was inspired by the legend of Hanuman — a Hindu deity revered for his strength, loyalty and courage. Patel says that he saw a lot of parallels between Hindu mythology and the iconography of the superheroes that we know of today, like Superman.
The film centers on a character named Kid — played by Patel — who makes a living working in an underground fight club and who later seeks to avenge his mother’s horrific death by infiltrating the elite class of a Mumbai-like city.
Other big players
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire easily swatted away a pair of challengers to hold on to the top spot at the box office for the second week in a row.
After its above-expectations $80 million launch last weekend, the MonsterVerse mashup brought in $31.7 million over its second weekend, a 60% drop from its debut. The Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures release, directed by Adam Wingard, has thus far outperformed any of the studio’s recent monster films except for 2014’s Godzilla.
But with $361.1 million worldwide in two weeks, Godzilla x Kong could ultimately leapfrog the $529 million global haul of 2014’s Godzilla. The latest installment, in which Godzilla and Kong team up, cost about $135 million to produce.
Godzilla x Kong extended its box-office reign as another primate-themed movie arrived in theaters.
The weekend’s other new wide release, The First Omen, from Disney’s 20th Century Studios, struggled to make a big impact with moviegoers. It came in fourth with an estimated $8.4 million in ticket sales in 3,375 theaters, while collecting an additional $9.1 million overseas. The R-rated horror film, which cost about $30 million to make, is a prequel to the 1976 Richard Donner-directed original starring Gregory Peck and Lee Remick.
This version, directed by Arkasha Stevenson and starring Nell Tiger Free, Tawfeek Barhom and Bill Nighy, follows 2006’s The Omen, which opened to $16 million and ultimately grossed $119 million.
The tepid opening for The First Omen allowed Sony’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire to take third place with $9 million in its third weekend of release. The sci-fi comedy sequel has collected $88.8 million domestically and $138 million worldwide.