“Marty Supreme,” a ping pong drama starring Timothée Chalamet, has become A24’s highest-grossing movie in North America.
The film earned about $5.4 million over the traditional weekend, pushing its total domestic box office past $80 million. This officially surpasses A24’s previous record holder, “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” which earned $77 million domestically.
The movie is directed by Josh Safdie and reportedly cost $60 million to $70 million to make. Because movie theaters usually keep around half of ticket sales, the film still needs strong future earnings to turn a profit.
“Marty Supreme” is expected to earn another $1.2 million from the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, bringing its four-day total to about $6.6 million.
The film opened during the Christmas holiday weekend and made $27 million, helped by a viral marketing campaign led by Chalamet. It has continued to gain attention during awards season. Chalamet recently won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for his performance in the film.
While the movie has performed very well in the U.S., its international box office remains smaller. Before this weekend, it had earned $13.9 million overseas. It is not yet clear if it will match the global success of “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” which made $142.8 million worldwide.
Other Box Office Highlights
“Avatar: Fire and Ash” stayed in first place, earning $13.3 million in its fifth weekend. The film has now made over $367 million domestically.
The only major new release, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” opened below expectations. It earned about $13 million over the weekend and is projected to reach $15 million with the holiday. Last year’s “28 Years Later” opened much stronger, with $30 million.
Other strong performers included “Zootopia 2” with $8.7 million and “The Housemaid” with $8.5 million, both continuing solid theatrical runs.