‘Furiosa’ And ‘The Garfield Movie’ Duke It Out At Memorial Day Box Office With $31-$33 Million Domestically

Memorial Day has rolled around again, with the summer movie season in full swing. Unfortunately, it’s shaping up to be one of the worst Memorial Day weekends for the box office in recent years. 

The big debuts for the holiday are The Garfield Movie and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Between the two, the race is neck and neck if estimates hold out to the end of Monday. 

Following the titular character, Furiosa serves as a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, showing the young days of Furiosa as she tries to reclaim her old life.

Hollywood Reporter noted that Furiosa was looking at $40-$45 million for its debut, but is now looking down the barrel of $31-$33 million across the long weekend. 

The Garfield Movie is in almost the same boat as Furiosa, estimated to earn $31-$33 million. As the title suggests, the film follows Garfield who gets caught up to his paws in a heist after he meets his father. 

The low numbers for these debuts, taking the first and second-place slots this weekend, make for the lowest-grossing Memorial Day debuts since 1995. Hollywood Reporter also noted that it excludes 2020, as theaters had not reopened come May of that year. 

Third place goes to IF, making $20.7 million across the long weekend. Fourth goes to Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes with $15.9 million, while fifth is The Fall Guy, coming in at $7.3 million. 

By the weekend’s end, 2024’s Memorial Day will total $125 million if estimates hold out. 

The top ten films this weekend, courtesy of Deadline:

1. Furiosa (WB) 3-Day $25M/ 4-Day $31-$33M/ Wk 1 
2. The Garfield Movie (Sony) 3-Day $24-$26M/ 4-Day $31-$33M/ Wk 1
3. IF (Paramount) 3-Day $16M/ 4-Day $20.7M/ Total $63.2M/ Wk 2 
4. Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes (20th Century/ Disney) 3-Day $12.4M/ 4-Day $15.9M/ Total $125.3M/ Wk 3
5. The Fall Guy (Universal) 3-Day $5.7M/ 4-Day $7.3M/ Total $73.5M/ Wk 4 
6. The Strangers: Chapter 1 (Lionsgate) 3-Day $5.6M/ 4-Day $7M/ Total $22.7M/ Wk 2
7. Sight (Angel) 3-Day $2.9M/ 4-Day $3.6M/ Wk 1
8. Challengers (Amazon MGM) 3-Day $1.5M/ 4-Day $1.8M/ Total $46.9M/ Wk 3
9. Babes (NEON) 3-Day $1.32M/ 4-Day $1.62M/ Total $1.8M/ Wk 2
10. Back To Black (Focus) 3-Day $1M/ 4-Day $1.2M/ Total $5.1M/ Wk 2