Onward Remains on Top as Coronavirus Sends Weekend Box Office to 21-Year Low

Pixar’s latest release, Onward, will maintain its hold on the top spot at the box office while the box office as a whole tumbles to its lowest numbers in 21 years. The overall box office is expected to bring in $54.4 million, its lowest weekend total since January 1999. Analysts estimate that new releases like The Hunt and Bloodshot will underperform at the box office by 15-35 percent due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The drop from last week is precipitous, as this weekend’s overall box office is down from last weekend’s box office gross of $100 million.

ComicBook.com’s Charlie Ridgley gave Onward a 4 out of 5 in his review. He writes, “You’re not going to have the exact same reaction to Onward that I do, because we’re all different people who carry different stories into the theater, but it’s sure to make you feel something. Personal experience is the heart beating at the center of Scanlon’s film, and no matter what you’re bringing to the table, it’s going to find a way to stick with you. There are a couple of speed bumps in the first act that cause a slow start to the film, but the world created and the expertly crafted finale make it more than worth the wait. Onward is a treasure that will connect with Pixar fans for quite a long time.”

As for Vin Diesel’s Bloodshot, ComicBook.com’s Brandon Davis gave the film a 3-out-of-5 review, writing “Bloodshot is not reinventing the crowded and competitive superhero genre. It’s a simple popcorn flick that honorably adapts the source material and ends up being an entertaining, albeit slightly dated action flick. Now, had it come out back in 2005, we might all be losing our minds over it.”

Keep reading to see what the box office looks like this weekend.

1. Onward

Week Two
Friday: $3.3 million
Weekend: $10.5 million
Total: $60.3 million

Two teenage elf brothers, Ian and Barley Lightfoot, go on a journey to discover if there is still a little magic left out there in order to spend one last day with their father, who died when they were too young to remember him.

Onward is the last film from Pixar Animation Studios. The film is directed by Dan Scanlon from a screenplay written by Scanlon, Jason Headley, and Keith Bunin, and features the voices of Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Octavia Spencer.

2. I Still believe

Opening Weekend
Friday: $4 million
Weekend: $9.5 million

The true story of Christian music star Jeremy Camp and his journey of love and loss.

I Still Believe is directed by the Erwin Brothers, based on the memoir of Jeremy Camp. The film stars KJ Apa, Britt Robertson, Shania Twain, Melissa Roxburgh, and Gary Sinise

3. Bloodshot

Opening Weekend
Friday: $3.78 million
Weekend: $9.3 million

After he and his wife are murdered, marine Ray Garrison is resurrected by a team of scientists. Enhanced with nanotechnology, he becomes a superhuman, biotech killing machine – Bloodshot. As Ray first trains with fellow super-soldiers, he cannot recall anything from his former life. But when his memories flood back and he remembers the man that killed both him and his wife, he breaks out of the facility to get revenge, only to discover that there’s more to the conspiracy than he thought.

Bloodshot is directed by David S. F. Wilson from a screenplay by Jeff Wadlow and Eric Heisserer. The film stars Vin Diesel, Eiza González, Sam Heughan, Toby Kebbell, and Guy Pearce.

4. The Invisible Man

Week Three
Friday: $1.8 million
Weekend: $6 million
Total: $64.42 million

After staging his own suicide, a crazed scientist uses his power to become invisible to stalk and terrorize his ex-girlfriend. When the police refuse to believe her story, she decides to take matters into her own hands and fight back.

The Invisible Man is a contemporary adaptation of H.G. Wells’ 1897 novel of the same name. The film is written and directed by Leigh Whannell and stars Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Harriet Dyer, Michael Dorman, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen.

5. The Hunt

Opening Weekend
Friday: $2.2 million
Weekend: $5.3 million

Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don’t know where they are — or how they got there. In the shadow of a dark internet conspiracy theory, ruthless elitists gather at a remote location to hunt humans for sport. But their master plan is about to be derailed when one of the hunted, Crystal, turns the tables on her pursuers.

The Hunt is directed by Craig Zobel, written by Damon Lindelof and Nick Cuse, and stars Betty Gilpin, Ike Barinholtz, Emma Roberts and Hilary Swank. 

6. Sonic the Hedgehog

Week Five
Friday: $735,000
Weekend: $2.57 million
Total: $145.8 million

Sonic tries to navigate the complexities of life on Earth with his newfound best friend — a human named Tom Wachowski. They must soon join forces to prevent the evil Dr. Robotnik from capturing Sonic and using his powers for world domination.

Based on the  Sega video game franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog is directed by Jeff Fowler from a screenplay written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller. The film stars Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic with Jim Carrey, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, and Neal McDonough. 

7. The Way Back

Week Two
Friday: $725,000
Weekend: $2.41 million
Total: $13.43 million

A widowed, former basketball all-star lost family foundation in a struggle with addiction and attempts to comeback by becoming the coach of a disparate, ethnically mixed high school basketball team at his alma mater.

The Way Back is directed by Gavin O’Connor, written by Brad Ingelsby, and stars Ben Affleck, Al Madrigal, Michaela Watkins, and Janina Gavankar,

8. The Call of the Wild

Week Four
Friday: $690,000
Weekend: $2.2 million
Total: $62.1 million

Buck is a big-hearted dog whose blissful domestic life gets turned upside down when he is suddenly uprooted from his California home and transplanted to the exotic wilds of the Alaskan Yukon in the 1890s. As the newest rookie on a mail-delivery dog sled team, Buck experiences the adventure of a lifetime as he ultimately finds his true place in the world.

The Call of the Wild is based on the 1903 novel of the same name by Jack London. The film is directed by Chris Sanders from a screenplay written by Michael Green. It stars Harrison Ford, Dan Stevens, Omar Sy, Karen Gillan, Bradley Whitford, and Colin Woodell.

9. Emma

Week Four
Friday: $440,000
Weekend: $1.37 million
Total: $10 million

Following the antics of a young woman, Emma Woodhouse, who lives in Georgian- and Regency-era England and occupies herself with matchmaking – in sometimes misguided, often meddlesome fashion- in the lives of her friends and family.

Emma is directed by Autumn de Wilde, from a screenplay by Eleanor Catton. The film is an adaptation of Jane Austen’s 1815 novel of the same name. The film stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Josh O’Connor, Callum Turner, Mia Goth, Miranda Hart, and Bill Nighy.

10. Bad Boys for Life

Week Nine
Friday: $300,000
Weekend: $1.1 million
Total: $204.3 million

Old-school cops Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett team up to take down the vicious leader of a Miami drug cartel. Newly created elite team AMMO of the Miami police department along with Mike and Marcus go up against the ruthless Armando Armas.

Bad Boys for Life is directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah and stars Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Charles Melton, Paola Núñez, Kate del Castillo, Nicky Jam, and Joe Pantoliano.