The film Argylle, starring Matthew Vaughn, had a disastrous opening weekend, earning only $18 million in the United States and $35 million worldwide, according to Deadline. Although Apple’s action comedy, which cost $200 million and features an all-star cast, was unable to overcome mediocre reviews and confusing trailers that never fully sold the premise, the film was a failure.
Argylle is Apple’s third consecutive failure, following the lackluster performances of Napoleon ($218.4 million worldwide) and Killers of the Flower Moon ($156.4 million), both of which had production costs that were greater than $150 million. As the trade points out, the purpose of these high-budget vehicles is to drive traffic to Apple TV+, so it is difficult to determine how these increasing losses will affect the studio. This is not a form of success that can be maintained over time.
After The King’s Man, which grossed $121 million worldwide in 2021, Argylle is Vaughn’s second consecutive film that has failed to meet expectations at the box office. Prior to that, his films had a generally satisfactory performance, with Kingsman: The Golden Circle continuing to be his highest-grossing film with a total of $408 million worldwide.
To put it another way, the only other new release was the fourth season of The Chosen, which was produced by Fathom Event and made $7.4 million in its first season. Wonka came in fourth place with $4.76 million, but The Beekeeper came in third place with $5.2 million, which is a 21 percent increase.
Additionally, it does not appear that there are any positive developments on the horizon for the box office. Both the wacky comedy Lisa Frankenstein and the suspense film Out of Darkness are currently available for purchase and streaming services. A modest $25–35 million is expected to be earned by the Spider-Verse film Madame Web in its first weekend of release, according to early projections. Madame Web will be released in theaters in two weeks. Aside from that, Hollywood will have to cling to life until Dune: Part Two arrives on March 1 and hopefully delivers what it promises.
Top 10 box office results
1.) Argylle (App/Uni) 3,605 theaters, Fri $6.5M Sat $6.9M Sun $4.5M 3-day$18M/ Wk 1
2.) The Chosen (Fath)2,248 theaters Fri $1.75M, Sat. $2.4M Sun $1.8M 3-day $6M/Total $7.4M/Wk 1
3.) The Beekeeper (AMZ MGM) 3,277 (-60) theaters, Fri $1.3M (-28%) Sat $2.4M Sun $1.4M 3-day $5.2M (-21%), Total $49.4M/Wk 4
4.) Wonka (WB) 2,901 (-113) theaters, Fri $1M (-24%) Sat $2.2M Sun $1.47M 3-day $4.76M (-16%), Total $201.1M/Wk 8
5.) Migration (Ill/Uni) 2,830 (-140) Fri $840K (-19%) Sat $2M Sun $1.2M 3-day $4.1M (-16%), Total $106.2M/ Wk 7
6.) Mean Girls (Par) 3,107 (-437) theaters, Fri $1M (-47%) Sat $1.8M Sun $1.1M 3-day $4M (-42%), Total $66.3M/Wk 4
7.) Anyone But You (Sony) 2,619 (-266) (-43) Fri $1M (-29%) Sat $1.5M Sun $915K 3-day $3.5M (-24%),Total $76.2M/Wk 7
8.) American Fiction (AMZ MGM) 1,902 (+200) theaters, $615K (-21%) Sat $1.08M Sun $598K 3-day $2.3M (-11%), Total $15M/Wk 8
9.) Poor Things (Sea) 1,950 (-350) Fri $592K (-30%) Sat $940K Sun $596K 3-day $2.1M (-28%)/Total $28.1M/Wk 9
10.) Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (WB) 1,742 (-376) theaters, Fri $440K (-33%) Sat $955K Sun $620K 3-day $2M (-26%) /Total $120.7M/Wk 7