‘Final Destination’ Franchise Rises Again As The Weeknd’s ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’ Falls Flat
More than a decade after its last installment, the Final Destination franchise has stormed back to life—and to the top of the box office. Final Destination: Bloodlines, the sixth film in the cult horror series, opened this weekend with a massive $51 million domestically and matched that overseas, bringing its global total to $102 million.
Backed by viral marketing—like truckload-of-logs memes that nod to the franchise’s infamous death traps—and boasting a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes, the film launched in 3,523 theaters to strong critical praise and fan hype. “This is an intentional revival, and clearly the audience showed up for it,” said Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian.
The movie’s success marks another win for Warner Bros., who already has two other major titles—Ryan Coogler’s Sinners and A Minecraft Movie—still riding high in the top five.
‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’ Stalls in The Weeknd’s Film Debut
While Bloodlines thrived, Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye’s feature film debut didn’t find the same footing. Hurry Up Tomorrow, a moody experimental thriller he co-wrote and starred in, brought in just $3.3 million and failed to break the top five, debuting at No. 6.
The R-rated film, directed by Trey Edward Shults and also starring Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan, casts The Weeknd as a fictionalized, insomniac version of himself. Despite star power, the movie was hit with harsh criticism—earning only 13% on Rotten Tomatoes and a C- CinemaScore. AP music critic Maria Sherman called it “an exciting vanity project with surrealist imagination but stiff writing, no stakes, limited emotional weight and an unclear narrative.”
Despite the poor reception, Lionsgate’s distribution deal ensured the film was still financially sound for the studio, thanks to its limited release strategy across just over 2,000 screens.
Warner Bros. Wins Again as Top Five Stays Competitive
Bloodlines wasn’t the only Warner Bros. success. The superhero team-up Thunderbolts earned $16.5 million this weekend, with a global total now crossing $325 million. Sinners brought in another $15.4 million, pushing its global earnings to $316.8 million. A Minecraft Movie added $5.9 million to its nearly billion-dollar run ($928.6 million globally), and The Accountant 2 held steady in fifth place with $5 million.
Eyes on Memorial Weekend as Box Office Momentum Builds
Industry experts are expecting a big Memorial Day weekend surge as Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch are set to hit theaters next. The domestic box office is already trending nearly 15% higher than this time last year, showing signs of a strong summer ahead.
“This weekend is the perfect opening act for what could be one of the biggest Memorial weekends at the box office ever,” said Dergarabedian.
Weekend Box Office Top 10 (Domestic)
- Final Destination: Bloodlines – $51 million
- Thunderbolts – $16.5 million
- Sinners – $15.4 million
- A Minecraft Movie – $5.9 million
- The Accountant 2 – $5 million
- Hurry Up Tomorrow – $3.3 million
- Friendship – $1.4 million
- Clown in a Cornfield – $1.3 million
- Kiki’s Delivery Service – $1.1 million
- Until Dawn – $800,000
