"F1 The Movie Races to Box Office Success, M3GAN 2.0 Lags Behind"

F1 The Movie made a blistering start at the global box office, delivering a $55.6 million domestic opening and an impressive $88.4 million from international markets. This brings its worldwide debut total to $144 million, placing it among the year's most successful cinematic launches. In contrast, the weekend didn't go as smoothly for M3GAN 2.0, which managed only $17.158 million globally—falling well short of the performance of its predecessor.

F1 The Movie, starring Brad Pitt in high-speed F1 action, is proving to be a standout theatrical success for Apple. It appears poised to outperform Apple’s earlier film releases at the box office, including critically acclaimed titles like Martin Scorsese’s *Killers of the Flower Moon* and Ridley Scott’s *Napoleon*. The film received positive attention not only for its thrilling racing sequences but also for Pitt’s commitment to performing real driving stunts at top speeds.

IGN awarded *F1 The Movie* a solid 7/10 in its review, praising the film for sticking closely to the sports movie formula while elevating itself at nearly every turn during its 156-minute runtime. Our verdict noted: “F1: The Movie follows the sports movie playbook almost perfectly, finding ways to be just that much better at nearly every stage of its 156-minute runtime — creating a super fun racecar flick in the process that eventually finds its way to victory lane.”

On the other hand, Blumhouse’s sequel *M3GAN 2.0* faced a rocky debut, pulling in just $10.2 million domestically and $6.958 million internationally. This underwhelming result raises questions about whether the original *M3GAN*, which went on to gross $180 million globally after its December 2022 release, was simply a one-off phenomenon. IGN scored *M3GAN 2.0* with a 6/10, noting: “M3GAN 2.0 hotswaps horror for sci-fi/action to mixed results, but M3GAN’s absolutely heinous wit and killer moves leave her, and not the new genres, the star of the show.”

Looking beyond the weekend’s newcomers, *28 Years Later* has now reached $103 million globally after two weeks, marking the highest-grossing entry in the franchise so far. Meanwhile, the live-action adaptation of *How To Train Your Dragon* continues to soar with a massive $454.436 million worldwide. However, Pixar’s latest offering, *Elio*, is still struggling following what has been described as the weakest opening in the studio's history. After two weekends, it has only managed to reach $72.3 million.

Disney, however, has reason to celebrate with its live-action *Lilo & Stitch* remake, which has already earned $946 million after six weekends. With school holidays approaching, the film remains on track to surpass the $1 billion mark. Other notable performances include *Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning*, which sits at $561.99 million after six weeks, *Karate Kid: Legends*, now past $100 million globally, *Final Destination Bloodlines* at $283.3 million, and *Sinners* reaching $368 million worldwide.