The summer movie season came to a close with a mix of familiar hits and modest new releases. The box office was dominated by the continued success of "Deadpool & Wolverine," which held the top spot for the second weekend in a row, earning $15.2 million domestically. The Marvel superhero film has become the best-selling R-rated movie of all time and is expected to cross the $600 million mark soon.
"Reagan," a biopic starring Dennis Quaid as the 40th U.S. president, was the only new release to make a significant impact, earning $7.4 million over the weekend and receiving positive audience reactions with an A CinemaScore and a 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics, however, were less enthusiastic, giving it a 19% rating.
Other holdovers from the summer, such as "Alien: Romulus" and "It Ends With Us," continued to perform well, with the sci-fi horror film "Alien: Romulus" earning $9.3 million and the drama "It Ends With Us" bringing in $7.4 million.
Overall, the summer box office saw a total of over $3.6 billion domestically, a slight decrease from the previous year. Despite some underperforming new releases, the season was filled with surprises and successful films that kept audiences engaged throughout the summer months.
As the fall movie season begins, it will be interesting to see if any new releases can match the success of the summer hits or if audiences will continue to flock to theaters to see familiar favorites.