“Elvis” on the other hand faced off against the barely receding “Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount), which returned to the top (at least until the tie is broken with actual Sunday numbers), also with a $30.5 million estimate, off only 32 percent, now at $522 million domestic with much more to come. Only “Uncharted,” with a much greater typical audience appeal and with the star of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” as a draw (“Elvis” has the hardly unknown but less proven Austin Butler), started stronger ($44 million), and then on a weekend where it was nearly half the gross. It’s the second biggest first weekend for any non-franchise 2022 release. As a non-franchise film, it is a more than respectable start for a high-profile but not automatically success-certain project. It is both for its studio (undergoing transition under new management) but more so for the industry. Though not as big as “Bohemian Rhapsody” ($51 million), with the new film’s appeal to older audiences and opening in a much more competitive weekend, this is a very encouraging opening. The standout result is that Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” (Warner Bros.) did over $30 million, at the high end of recent projections.
Lots of positive news for theaters this weekend to report, although like last weekend’s even better results, they come with caveats.
