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Don't Worry Darling finished the weekend atop the domestic box office, generating $19.2 million to close out its three-day theatrical run. The Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema project exceeded early studio projections, which had the film set to earn $17 million to conclude the weekend.
Don't Worry Darling comes from emerging director Olivia Wilde and stars Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, and Chris Pine. The Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema film centers around Pugh, who portrays Alice Chambers, a 1950s housewife who lives with her husband in a quaint utopian community. Once the seemingly perfect paradise begins to show its cracks, Alice begins to unearth haunting secrets that she cannot help but question, as the veil of reality lifts to reveal an unsettling truth.
Per Deadline, the Wilde film earned a respectable $9.55 million to conclude its opening Friday night showings, which ultimately proved to be the most profitable day for the controversy-riddled film. Saturday ended with the project taking home $5.8 million, with audience attendance decreasing throughout Sunday as Don't Worry Darling earned $3.8 million to finish off the weekend. In total, the film generated $19.2 million to end the theatrical weekend atop the box office standings.
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The film's domestic box office finish is not entirely surprising due to the level of enthusiasm that surrounded the film before the controversy surfaced, but there was concern that the outside noise would prove to be a glaring distraction. Early Don't Worry Darling reviews did not paint an encouraging picture, with the film earning a 38% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics. The audience reception, however, was more favorable, evident in the 79% audience score and the B- CinemaScore grade that the film received. Word-of-mouth and fandom around Styles' casting helped the film in more ways than one, but it will be interesting to see how the film continues to perform once the dust officially settles.
While Don't Worry Darling finished its domestic opening weekend sitting atop the box office, it fell short of James Cameron's Avatar re-release globally. The Pandora-centric film accumulated $31 million worldwide, with Don't Worry Darling close on its heels with a $30 million performance. The Avatar re-release comes thirteen years after the film first premiered in theaters, setting the stage for the long-awaited arrival of Avatar: The Way of Water, which will hit theaters this December. Domestically, the Cameron film finished third with a $10 million performance, coming narrowly behind last weekend's box office winner, The Woman King, which earned $11.1 million to conclude its second theatrical weekend.
Don't Worry Darling is currently playing in theaters.
Source: Deadline