Agent Argylle, the highly anticipated globe-trotting spy comedy directed by Matthew Vaughn, failed to make a splash at the box office. Despite being backed by Apple and distributed by Universal, the film only managed to earn a meager $18 million from its release in 3,605 North American theaters. With a hefty production budget of $200 million, “Argylle” is off to a rocky start and may become the year’s first major disappointment.
A Slow Start for “Argylle”
Despite garnering negative reviews and poor audience scores, with a mere 35% on Rotten Tomatoes and a “C+” rating on CinemaScore, “Argylle” surprisingly claimed the number one spot at both the domestic and global box office. It earned an additional $17.3 million from international markets, bringing its worldwide total to $35.3 million.
Challenges Ahead for a Potential Trilogy
Vaughn had ambitious plans to turn “Argylle” into a trilogy, following the success of his “Kingsman” series and “X-Men: First Class.” However, the film’s underwhelming performance raises doubts about the viability of the planned sequels. Unless there is a significant uptick in ticket sales, it seems less likely that “Argylle” will fulfill Vaughn’s grand vision. The movie stars Bryce Dallas Howard as a reclusive author whose fictional spy novels start mirroring the actions of a real-life espionage organization. The cast also includes Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Experts Weigh In
David A. Gross, an industry expert, commented on the film’s disappointing opening, stating, “This is a weak opening for a new action comedy. For an original [action comedy] to break through, the humor has to jump off the screen. That’s not happening here.” Vaughn’s film joins Apple’s previous big-screen ventures, including Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon,” which also fell short of expectations.
Box Office Competition
“Argylle” managed to secure the top spot at the box office due to the absence of new releases in the previous three weeks. Other films like “The Beekeeper,” “Wonka,” and other holdovers rounded out the top five.
In second place, the faith-based TV series “The Chosen” brought in $6 million from 2,300 theaters over the weekend and $7.4 million since its Thursday opening. The show’s Season 4 is being exclusively released in cinemas by Fathom Events.
David Ayer’s action thriller “The Beekeeper” landed in third place after holding the second spot for three consecutive weekends. The Amazon MGM film earned $5.28 million, bringing its North American total to $49.2 million and its worldwide earnings to $122 million. Timothee Chalamet’s “Wonka” continued to perform well, remaining in the top four for the eighth weekend in a row, with an additional $4.7 million. The Warner Bros. musical comedy has grossed over $201 million domestically and more than $550 million globally.
Universal and Illumination’s animated comedy “Migration” claimed the fifth spot with $4.2 million in its seventh weekend. The film, which follows a family of ducks migrating south for winter, has amassed $106.2 million in North America and $210 million worldwide, turning a profit against its $70 million budget.
The January Box Office Slowdown
While films like “The Beekeeper” and “Mean Girls” provided some pleasant surprises, the overall January box office was down roughly 46% compared to pre-pandemic times and 15% behind last year’s figures. As David A. Gross from Franchise Entertainment Research puts it, “the month was a step backwards” in terms of the year’s overall performance.
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