US Box Office: Robert Pattinson's Mickey 17 struggles to maintain momentum, drops 60 percent in second weekend as new releases dominate

Mickey 17 sees a steep 60% drop in its second weekend, falling to No. 3 at the box office as new releases Novocaine and Black Bag claim the top spots in North America.

Written by Seema Sinha , Entertainment Journalist

Published on Mar 18, 2025 | 01:01 PM IST | 10.4K

Picture Courtesy: Warner Bros. Pictures

Bong Joon Ho’s sci-fi black comedy Mickey 17 faced a tough second weekend at the box office, taking the No. 3 spot as its earnings fell by 60% compared to its opening weekend. The Robert Pattinson-led film grossed USD 7.4 million over the weekend, bringing its domestic total to USD 33.2 million, with projections suggesting a final U.S. run of USD 48 million to USD 53 million. Debutants Novocaine and Black Bag took the top two spots on the North American box office weekend chart.

Mickey 17’s second weekend drop is comparable to other sci-fi releases. The Matrix Resurrections fell by 64.4% in its second weekend with a USD 3.8 million haul, while Annihilation dropped 49.3% with USD 5.6 million. Recent sci-fi titles like The Creator and Civil War saw declines of 55.65% and 56.1%, respectively, while Ridley Scott’s Napoleon experienced a 64.7% drop.

Despite receiving generally positive reviews from critics, Mickey 17 faces significant challenges in recouping its USD 118 million production budget. This figure does not include marketing costs. With a worldwide gross of USD 90 million so far, the film will need strong legs in the coming weeks to break even, but that seems unlikely given Disney’s live-action feature Snow White is set for a March 21 release. The latter film is expected to dominate ticket sales upon arrival, with a debut weekend projection of at least USD 55 million to USD 60 million. It stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot in the lead roles.

Mickey 17, for those unfamiliar, is based on Edward Ashton’s 2022 novel Mickey 7. The film follows a man who volunteers to be expendable in a space program due to financial struggles. He takes on perilous tasks on an ice planet without fearing death, knowing that when one version of him perishes, another will be cloned with most of his memories intact. When one iteration of him refuses to disappear, he faces an existential crisis.

Mark Ruffalo, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, and Toni Collette round out the film’s cast.

Mickey 17 premiered at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival on February 15, 2025, before its theatrical debut in South Korea on February 28, followed by its U.S. release on March 7. While the film generated buzz as Bong Joon Ho’s first big-screen outing since winning the Oscars for Parasite in 2020, its box office performance has not lived up to expectations.