Warner Bros. continues to dominate the box office and, thanks to Zach Cregger’s new horror film Weapons, has now set a historic record, as per ScreenRant. With a strong opening weekend that terrified audiences to the tune of $42 million, Warner can boast of being the first studio ever to deliver six consecutive box office hits, all opening above $40 million.
This record streak includes Sinners, Minecraft, F1: The Movie, Final Destination: Bloodlines, Superman, and now Weapons. Even more interestingly, half of these are entirely new stories rather than tried-and-tested, well-known franchises. Could this signal a growing appetite among moviegoers for fresh content? One can only hope.
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners became the highest-grossing original story since Coco, earning over $200 million domestically. It also dethroned Jaws as the highest-grossing horror film of all-time in the U.S. Meanwhile, F1: The Movie has become Brad Pitt’s biggest hit ever, raking in over $570 million worldwide.
Minecraft smashed records with a staggering $313 million opening weekend and went on to gross nearly $1 billion globally. Final Destination: Bloodlines became the most successful entry in the series, while James Gunn’s Superman has already soared past $570 million worldwide. Not a bad run for Warner.
So what’s driving these successes? Is it possible audiences are hungrier for new stories rather than reheated leftovers in shiny new packaging?