Box Office: Robert De Niro's The Alto Knights stumbles with USD 5M opening, Warner Bros. faces another setback

Robert De Niro's The Alto Knights opened to a weak USD 5M worldwide, adding to Warner Bros.' struggles after multiple box office misfires this year, including Mickey 17 and Companion.

Written by Seema Sinha , Entertainment Journalist

Updated on Mar 24, 2025 | 05:22 PM IST | 14.1K

Picture Courtesy: Warner Bros. Pictures

The Alto Knights had a modest box office debut this weekend, as predicted by trackers ahead of its release. The production was forecasted to log a USD 3 to USD 5 million opening weekend, and it did just that, grossing USD 3.2 million in the domestic market and USD 1.8 million across eight international territories, bringing its worldwide opening weekend cume to USD 5 million.

It played alongside another new release, Snow White, and multiple holdover titles like Mickey 17, Black Bag, Novocaine, and Captain America: Brave New World.

The R-rated biopic crime drama, with a USD 45 million production price, joins the list of Warner Bros.’ misfires this year, including the aforementioned Mickey 17. The said film, boasting a USD 118 million production budget (excluding marketing costs), managed to surpass USD 100 million over the weekend but is still expected to cause a USD 75 to USD 80 million loss for the studio. The venture stars Robert Pattinson, Mark Ruffalo, Naomi Ackie, and more, and was directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Bong Joon Ho, creating much hype around it.

Earlier this year, WB’s Companion, a horror entry, also did underwhelming business.

The studio is desperately looking forward to the next quarter of 2025 when many of its buzzworthy endeavors will debut. A Minecraft movie starring Jason Momoa, Jack Black, and more is expected to kick things off on April 4. Forecasts for the film’s opening weekend are currently at USD 55 to USD 75 million in the US and around the same range internationally. Sinners, starring Michael B. Jordan, will next attempt to recover the studio’s lost capital for the year, followed by Final Destination: Bloodlines, F1, and Superman.

For those unversed, The Alto Knights stars Robert De Niro in a double role, but not even the legendary Hollywood stalwart’s attachment to the project was enough to draw audiences to theaters. The film’s underwhelming performance is partially attributed to a lack of promotional efforts on Warner Bros.’ part, with numerous box office trackers believing no one but them knew about the film’s presence in theaters as Snow White unapologetically dominated the marketing scene leading up to its debut. The offering grossed USD 87.3 million worldwide in its first weekend—underperforming but still taking the top spot at the box office.

It will be interesting to see if The Alto Knights can get a second wind in the days ahead. The film, for those interested, is set in the 1950s and follows mob bosses Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, both played by De Niro. Meanwhile, Debra Messing, Cosmo Jarvis, Kathrine Narducci, and Michael Rispoli also star in the production.