After last week’s massive Thor: Love and Thunder opening, this weekend it will be quieter on the theater box office with drama Where the crayfish sing and animation film Paws of Fury as the two new national entries with Thor expect to maintain the number 1 spot.
On Thursday nights, Sony and 3000 Pictures’ lobsters raised an impressive $2.3 million from 3,150 locations. The film expects an opening of about $10 million. Based on the New York Times bestseller, lobsters stars Normal people breakout Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kya Clark, a young woman who has long lived alone in the swamps of North Carolina and is accused of murder. Reese Witherspoon produced the film which was directed by Olivia Newman from a screenplay by Lucy Alibar.
The film has been poorly received by critics, with a 33 percent freshness rating on Rotten tomatoes and THR‘s review called it “a confused moral fantasy.” But the film earned 4.5 stars in the PostTrak audience’s exit polls.
Paramount animated feature Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank took in $505,000 from approximately 2,650 locations. The title, an asset to the studio, will be expanded to 3,475 locations this weekend.
Paws of Fury Michael Cera plays Hank, a sweet dog who dreams of becoming a samurai, a job usually reserved for cats. To help protect a village of cats, Hank finds a reluctant teacher (Samuel L. Jackson) to train him, then teams up with the villagers to save the day. Michelle Yeoh, Mel Brooks, George Takei and Ricky Gervais are also featured.
Also new this weekend are Focus Features and eOne title Mrs Harris is going to Paris, which was released in a limited release. The film follows a widowed cleaning lady (Lesley Manville) who falls in love with a Dior dress and is determined to travel to Paris to buy her own dress.
Thor earned $8.3 million on Thursday night. The film has now passed $400 million at the worldwide box office and is expected to win over the weekend.
Elsewhere, there’s the Universal/Illumination Entertainment animated film Minions: Rise of Gru, which has over $236 million at the North American box office after two weeks in theaters, as does Warner Bros.’ Elvis and Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverickthe latest of which passed $600 million at the North American box office earlier this week.