

Wolf Man, director Leigh Whannell’s follow-up to 2020’s The Invisible Man, released to a lukewarm critical reception and with a whimper at the box office. The film, which acts as a reboot of the popular Universal Monsters character and stars Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, debuted at only number 3 in the domestic box office, falling behind Mufasa: The Lion King on its fourth weekend and One of Them Days. In its opening weekend debut, the film made a staggeringly low $10.6 million domestically: $4.4 million on Friday, $3.7 million on Saturday, and $2.4 million on Sunday. The film is tracking to make only $1.5 million on Monday. The film’s overseas debut isn’t any better, with it only making an estimated $5 million, leaving its global debut at a staggeringly low $15 million.
With Wolf Man, Universal hoped to repeat the success of Leigh Whanell’s The Invisible Man. That film, also based on a popular Universal Monsters character, made nearly $150 million at the worldwide box office before its theatrical run ended prematurely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. For comparison, in its opening weekend, The Invisible Man earned nearly $30 million domestically and excellent reviews, with a current Rotten Tomatoes score of 91%.
Despite a disappointing debut, the film, with its reported modest budget of $25 million, could still bounce back at the box office and earn a profit. However, with a lukewarm score of 53% on Rotten Tomatoes and a C- CinemaScore, critical reception and negative word of mouth may hinder the film from bouncing back in future weekends.