Mel Gibson’s ‘Flight Risk’ Tops Box Office Despite Lukewarm Reception; ‘The Brutalist’ Gains Momentum
Trump Appoints Gibson as Hollywood Ambassador Alongside Voight and Stallone
Despite receiving harsh criticism from reviewers and a lukewarm reception from audiences, Mel Gibson’s thriller Flight Risk debuted at No. 1 at the box office, bringing in a modest $12 million, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
The film, distributed by Lionsgate, follows Mark Wahlberg as a pilot transporting an Air Marshal (Michelle Dockery) and a fugitive (Topher Grace) across Alaska. However, the film’s critical reception was less than stellar, earning a mere 21% on Rotten Tomatoes and a lackluster “C” grade from CinemaScore audiences. This marks Gibson’s return to directing after his 2016 war epic Hacksaw Ridge.
Adding to the headlines, former President Donald Trump recently appointed Gibson, along with actors Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone, as “special ambassadors” to Hollywood. The announcement stirred conversation but did not significantly boost the film’s box office performance.
The weekend also coincided with the ongoing Sundance Film Festival and the recent Oscar nominations, which had been delayed twice due to wildfires in the Los Angeles area. Hollywood’s attention was largely focused on these events rather than new theatrical releases.
A24 took a bold risk by expanding Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, a three-and-a-half-hour epic nominated for 10 Academy Awards, into wider release. Initially deemed “un-distributable” by some executives, the film, which includes an intermission, has been performing decently in limited release, raking in $6 million. Its wider release, however, yielded $2.9 million—an improvement but still a modest sum.
Meanwhile, another Oscar-nominated film, RaMell Ross’ Nickel Boys, struggled to find an audience. The Amazon MGM Studios release, shot almost entirely in first-person perspective, expanded to 540 theaters but earned only $340,171.
Following one of the weakest Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekends in recent years, no major releases made a significant splash. Steven Soderbergh’s horror film Presence, which is uniquely shot from the perspective of a ghost, earned $3.4 million in its opening weekend. The film, acquired by Neon from last year’s Sundance, was produced on a modest $2 million budget.
As for holdovers, Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King continued to perform well, securing second place with $8.7 million in its sixth weekend. The Barry Jenkins-directed prequel has now grossed $626.7 million globally. Meanwhile, the Keke Palmer and SZA-led comedy One of Them Days held steady, dropping just 32% from its debut weekend and adding $8 million to its total—proving that comedies can still find success at the box office.
Here are the estimated ticket sales for the weekend across U.S. and Canadian theaters, as reported by Comscore:
Flight Risk – $12 million
Mufasa: The Lion King – $8.7 million
One of Them Days – $8 million
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 – $5.5 million
Moana 2 – $4.3 million
Presence – $3.4 million
Wolf Man – $3.4 million
A Complete Unknown – $3.1 million
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera – $3 million
The Brutalist – $2.9 million
Final domestic box office numbers will be released on Monday.