Project Hail Mary's Strong Second Weekend Boosts Q1 Box Office 25%

Mar 29, 2026

Amazon MGM’s original sci-fi movie PROJECT HAIL MARY finished in first place again in its second weekend by earning $54.5M. All films together grossed $96.9M, making this the fifth consecutive weekend with a higher box office than the matching weekends in 2025. Last year, the last weekend of Q1 produced $77.6M, with another Amazon MGM film, A WORKING MAN, leading the way with its $15.5M opening.

2026’s winning streak could end next weekend, going up against last year’s spectacular $162.8M opening of Warner Bros.’ A MINECRAFT MOVIE. All films that weekend grossed $202.4M. Normally, a $200M+ comparable weekend would spell almost certain defeat, but Universal is giving 2026 a chance with THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE, which opens next Wednesday and should do very well in its first weekend.

Last week, we introduced a new section in our weekly report called The Last Four Weeks. This is our attempt to gauge the current year’s performance by comparing the most recent four weeks to the same period from last year. We chose a four-week window to account for the inevitable ups and downs of any given week, which could be influenced by release schedules, holidays, and weather disruptions. The chart below validates the optimism that most exhibitors are feeling at this moment, at least as it compares to last year’s results. Please share any questions or feedback with the Screendollars film team by sending us an email at contactus@screendollars.com.

If you’re feeling more spring in your step lately, it may be because the last four weeks are way up compared to the same weeks last year. After the massive opening of PROJECT HAIL MARY last weekend, we are running 79% higher in box office and 74% more in attendance for the covered period. There will be continued strength to close out the quarter, finishing up with the first two days of THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE, which opens on Wednesday. The next hurdle will come next weekend, when THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE matches up against A MINECRAFT MOVIE, which delivered the best opening of the year at $162.8M.

#1 – PROJECT HAIL MARY

Amazon MGM’s PROJECT HAIL MARY continued its dominance, finishing #1 in both of its first two weekends. Its gross of $54.5M this weekend was a modest decline of only 32% from its opening weekend. After 10 days, the film has tallied $164.3M domestically and $300.8M worldwide. Here are a few of the milestones PROJECT HAIL MARY has already achieved:

It had the second biggest domestic opening ever for a film that was neither a straight sequel nor a new chapter in a franchise. Only OPPENHEIMER has done better in the first three days, from July 21-23, 2023, taking in $82.5M. PROJECT HAIL MARY came up just short at $80.5M or 98% of OPPENHEIMER.
It is the highest domestic-grossing film for Amazon since it acquired MGM Studios in March of 2022. The previous #1 for the combined studio was RED ONE, which earned $97.0M in the U.S. and Canada in its theatrical run starting on November 15, 2024. PROJECT HAIL MARY passed that number after only 5 days.
It took only 10 days to become the highest-grossing movie in the domestic market this year.
It is currently running 51% ahead of the film that it is compared with most often, THE MARTIAN from 2015.

Internally, Amazon is celebrating PROJECT HAIL MARY as a validation of its strategy to lean into theatrical releasing, rolling out expensive blockbusters as global events. They intend to generate both box office returns and downstream streaming value. Mike Hopkins, Amazon’s Senior Vice President with responsibility for both Amazon Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, highlighted the film’s $80M domestic debut and $140M global opening as an unquestionable success, both in its raw box office grosses and in its response from critics and audiences.

We predict that the film will be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture next year, and that Ryan Gosling will receive his third Best Actor nomination as well. The modest drop in its second weekend of only 32% indicates that the film should continue to draw audiences for many weeks ahead. Because it cost $200M to make the movie, it will need to earn $500M worldwide to become profitable from its theatrical run. But every ticket sold will help to offset its production cost and add to its streaming value when it finally hits Amazon Prime Video in the summer.

PROJECT HAIL MARY vs. THE MARTIAN

#2 – HOPPERS

Pixar’s animated family film, HOPPERS, stayed in second place by adding $12.2M in its fourth weekend, dropping 31%. This brings its 24-day box office to $138.6M domestically and $297.6M worldwide. While HOPPERS has played an important role in building momentum for the first quarter, and is the second-highest-earning movie of Q1, its performance has been relatively modest compared to other movies from the Pixar catalog. Of 28 Pixar releases, HOPPERS ranks currently as the 23^rd highest-grossing, having passed the $123.1M earned by THE GOOD DINOSAUR in 2015 and trailing CARS 3, which earned $152.9M in 2017.

The most important number to Disney is whether HOPPERS turns a profit. At this point, we expect it to hit that milestone based on its estimated worldwide box office of around $330M. This would be a pinch higher than the $325M we believe that it would need to be profitable, after $150M was spent on its production. Of course, Disney is also in line to capture additional value from downstream viewing on Disney+. It could be that the next time HOPPERS’ characters appear will be in a future Disney+ movie or animated series, since those streaming-only productions usually come at a lower cost.

HOPPERS is an example of a movie that has been important to exhibitors because of raw box office earnings, while only being a break-even proposition for its studio. Keep in mind that breaking even is not a winning long-term strategy for a studio.

HOPPERS vs. THE GOOD DINOSAUR after 24 Days

#3 – THEY WILL KILL YOU

Warner Bros.’ horror film THEY WILL KILL YOU finished #3 with an opening weekend box office of $5.0M domestically and $9.0M globally. The film is directed by Russian filmmaker Kirill Sokolov, known for his hyper-violent, darkly comedic style, which is very much on display with this film. It was co-written by Sokolov and Alex Litvak, whose previous credits include PREDATORS from 2010. Working with its partners at Warner Bros., New Line Cinema picked up the rights to the project in July 2024, showing confidence in the film’s concept. It blends action, horror, and comedy for an effect that is being compared to Quentin Tarantino’s KILL BILL movies (2003 and 2004) and Sam Raimi’s EVIL DEAD II (1987).

The cast is led by Zazie Beetz, in her first time as the headliner of a feature film. She is supported by industry veterans Heather Graham (BOOGIE NIGHTS) and Patricia Arquette (BOYHOOD). Its plot follows a down-on-her-luck young woman who takes a job as a night cleaner in a luxury high-rise building known as The Virgil. At first, the assignment seems straightforward – keep her head down while working overnight, and avoid interacting with the building’s eccentric, ultra-wealthy residents.

But it quickly becomes clear that the job’s many rules exist for a reason. As she moves through the tower’s increasingly restricted floors, she begins to uncover disturbing signs that something is very wrong: locked rooms, strange symbols, and residents who behave less like neighbors and more like members of a secret society. When she witnesses a brutal act of violence, she realizes that The Virgil hides a horrifying truth. Although the story is said to take place in New York City, the movie was shot in Cape Town, South Africa, where a local building served as the double for The Virgil.

The film premiered earlier this month at SXSW in Austin, Texas. On Rotten Tomatoes, it is showing a 66% rating from critics and 80% from audiences. Here is a sample of what critics have had to say about it. TheWrap likes the performance of Beetz. “We witness a rare gift: that of an actor transforming, before our very eyes, earning her stripes in the action hero pantheon in real time. Indeed, Beetz’s Asia Reeves will be the only name you’ll be thinking of when the credits roll.” The Hollywood Reporter said, “What it is armed for is violence — lots and lots and lots of violence, so brutally nasty it comes all the way back around to childishly funny. That, it is happy to dish out in spades, with enough gusto to sate even the most bloodthirsty filmgoer.” The U.K.’s The Independent weighs in with “Zazie Beetz must be exhausted. Not only did she train for four months to play They Will Kill You’s Asia Reaves, but she also had to carry the entire damn film on her shoulders.” Finally, RogerEbert.com panned it, saying, “In the end, it’s just not creative or confident enough to kill its many flaws.”

Made on a skinny $15M budget, as most horror films seem to be these days, it will need to earn $37.5M worldwide to be profitable. Projecting forward from its $5M domestic opening, it seems unlikely to get into the black. We expect THEY WILL KILL YOU to lose most of its screens over the next few weeks, as new films open and still have to compete with READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME, which just completed its second weekend. For a comparison film, we have chosen another movie that takes place in a mysterious, exclusive high-rise in New York. The nickname of that building became the title of the film, SLIVER, from 1993, starring Sharon Stone.

THEY WILL KILL YOU vs. SLIVER

#4 – DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE

The fourth-place film of the weekend is DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE, the sequel to last year’s Indian-produced action film DHURANDHAR. The sequel is being released in North America by Moviegoers Entertainment. Its opening weekend gross of $10.0M placed it third last weekend, and this weekend it earned an additional $4.8M. This amounts to a second weekend drop of only 52%, one of the best holds ever for a major Indian movie in North America.

Most often, these imports drop 60% or more after the primary interested audience rushes out to see it in its first weekend. The original DHURANDHAR defied gravity and went up its second weekend after grossing $2M in its debut. Not only has DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE remained in the top five, but it has also become the highest-earning Indian film ever in North America.

TOP FIVE INDIANA FILMS – NORTH AMERICA GROSSES

Discussions about making a third film in the series have already begun, leveraging the notoriety of its lead character, Arjun Rathore, played by Ranveer Singh, which gives it a spy franchise potential. Some are comparing it to THE BOURNE franchise starring Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, and to MISSION IMPOSSIBLE starring Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt. Of course, this would be an optimistic (unrealistic?) view of the budding DHURANDHAR franchise, after a positive reception for the first two films.

DHURANDAR THE REVENGE vs. DHURANDAR

#5 – REMINDERS OF HIM

REMINDERS OF HIM, the romantic drama from Universal, finished fifth by bringing in $4.7M in its third weekend, dropping 41%. This brings its 17-day totals to $41.1M in the domestic market and $69.5M worldwide. The film continues to track slightly ahead of Colleen Hoover’s second book-to-film project, REGRETTING YOU. After 17 days in release, REMINDERS OF HIM is beating that film by 8% but trails IT ENDS WITH US by a hefty 66%. If REMINDERS OF HIM continues to track with REGRETTING YOU, it will final at around a $90M in global box office.

Based on the production cost of $25M, this would make the new movie a profitable venture. Appetite for movies in the “Hoover-Verse” will be tested again shortly with the October 2^nd release of the psychological thriller VERITY from Amazon/MGM. Up until now, Colleen Hoover has demonstrated that the large and loyal fan following for her novels is also interested in their movie adaptations.

REMINDERS OF HIM vs. Hoover’s Books-to-Film History after 17 Days

Where Are We as of 3/26/2026

Recently, we added attendance figures to our comparison of year-to-date box office for the current year to key prior years. We arrive at attendance numbers by dividing the raw box office by an estimated ticket price for the target year. Please email your comments or suggestions on this analysis to contactus@screendollars.com. We’re committed to providing the most useful information possible.