March has seen a significant spike at the box office after a quiet start to 2024 thanks to the massive success of Dune Part 2 and Kung Fu Panda 4 getting audiences into theaters. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire continued that trend to take the top spot in its opening weekend, though it may not be able to hold onto that spot for very long.
Audiences ain't afraid of no ghosts
Heading into Sunday, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was on track to take the weekend at the domestic box office with an estimated $45.2 million haul, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It just managed to eek out Ghostbusters: Afterlife's $44 million opening weekend in 2021, which was one of the larger openings at the time as cinemas were in the midst of reopening from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Things were quieter at the international box office for Frozen Empire, though, with roughly $16.4 million to bring the film's opening worldwide haul to $61.6 million.
Dune Part 2 held strong at the number two spot for its fourth weekend in theaters with another $17.5 million to bring its North American haul to around $233 million and the worldwide total to over $500 million. Kung Fu Panda 4, by contrast, dropped to third at the domestic box office with $16.5 million to bring its North American and worldwide totals to around $133.2 million and $268 million, respectively.
Rounding out the top five was the Sydney Sweeney-led horror film Immaculate in fourth place and Mark Wahlberg's dog-centric adventure Arthur the King. Immaculate had a relatively quiet opening with an estimated $5.3 million, while Arthur the King brought in another $4.4 million for its second weekend in theaters.
Despite the relatively strong domestic opening, there are concerns about the legs Frozen Empire could have in theaters as the release calendar begins to pick up to close out March and heading into April.
Stiff competition
The Ghostbusters are set to face monstrous competition almost immediately with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire scheduled to hit theaters on March 29. Legendary's latest Monsterverse film is being estimated to bring in between $45 and $50 million at the domestic box office, which would be up significantly from 2021's Godzilla vs Kong opening weekend $31.6 million haul. Like Afterlife, this was still a strong opening at the time due to the number of COVID-19 restrictions still in affect.
While April does not have any major blockbuster releases like Dune or Godzilla, the month will be very busy at cinemas with just the sheer number of releases that could eat up the box office. The first week, alone, will see the release of Dev Patel's directorial debut Monkey Man and horror film The First Omen.
Civil War, Challengers, Boy Kills World, Abigail, and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare are just a few of the other releases set for April that could likely eat into Frozen Empire's box office as the weeks go on.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is currently in theaters.
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