“Weapons” and “Freakier Friday” Open Big at Box Office

Both Weapons and Freakier Friday were able to secure good spots at the weekend box office, offering viewers two very different movie experiences.

SPOILER WARNING: This post shares spoilers for Weapons and Freakier Friday. Tread carefully!

Disney and Warner Bros. fought it out at the box office with horror Weapons and comedy Freakier Friday, offering their own take on “magic” drastically changing the lives of the main cast. While Weapons had a whole lot of hype before its theatrical debut (the Critic RT Score is currently 95%), people were cautiously optimistic about Freakier Friday succeeding as a serviceable sequel to the iconic Freaky Friday (2003).

Fortunately, both movies delivered at the box office as well as when it came down to the general audience reception, with Freakier Friday really surprising everybody, which we will get to in a bit.

Let’s begin with Weapons. The horror thriller opened with an impressive $42.5 million atop the chart. With a reported production budget of $38 million, the movie has grossed around $70 million globally, cementing itself as a profitable project for everybody involved.

Written and directed by Zach Cregger, Weapons stars Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan, and Alden Ehrenreich. The story features a bunch of characters reacting to the sudden disappearance of a classroom of kids. I liked how the narrative offered different perspectives, adding layers to the mystery and showcasing how all of the characters were linked.

I enjoyed the creepy suburban setting. There were also some surprisingly campy and comedic moments. Wong’s character is a married gay man. So, we got to see him and his husband in the movie. Madigan as Gladys is so good.

As for my gripes, I feel like the characters acted in the manner the plot wanted them instead of how a “normal” human would behave when faced with similar situations. Also, Weapons might not be for everyone if you aren’t into dark magic being used to explain such a mystery. Furthermore, in my opinion, I was a bit unsure about what the narrative was trying to say. There’s not much “grounding” of such a movie to make you think about how it might relate to real-life societal issues.

However, having said that, Weapons is an enjoyable time if you are into such content.

Coming to Freakier Friday starring Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis reprising their roles from Freaky Friday (2003), it opened to an estimated $29 million against a reported production budget of $42 million. The worldwide gross currently stands at $44 million.

Due to Hollywood being in the habit of churning out nostalgia bait without focusing on quality, I was worried about Freakier Friday tarnishing the memory of the predecessor. But, in a surprising turn of events, Freaky Friday 2 wasn’t just an enjoyable sequel, but an actual, well-written bodyswap comedy. I had a blast watching it.

I liked how the creative team focused on “Chosen” family by having Lily (Sophia Hammons) be part of the bodyswitch. Jake (Chad Michael Murray) was utilized well instead of being a random cameo. Along with a whole lot of comedy, I enjoyed the heartfelt moments. The scene where Eric (Manny Jacinto) announced he couldn’t go ahead with the marriage… so good!

As for any queer representation in Freakier Friday, well, we don’t have an outright queer character in the film. However, the school principal played by X Mayo kind of came across as a queer character with how she was during her meeting with Eric and Anna (Lohan). The bake sale also has a bunch of rainbow flags, showing that Harper’s (Julia Butters) and Lily’s school was queer inclusive.

In third place, we got Fantastic Four: First Steps with $15.5 million. The global haul is currently $434 million, and that has made certain analysts say that the latest MCU project might barely break even at $500 million. Ufff!!

Superman is doing impressively well domestically, adding $7.8 million to push the domestic haul to $331 million and the worldwide total to $578 million. In a sense, it has begun to turn a profit for the studio, but it’s more of a trickle instead of a nice stream.

Superhero movies are in a weird space right now. Let’s see if things change come 2026.

August 8 – August 10, 2025 Weekend Box Office:

1. Weapons – $42.5 million
2. Freakier Friday – $29 million
3. Fantastic Four: First Steps – $15.5 million
4. The Bad Guys 2 – $10.4 million
5. The Naked Gun – $8.3 million
6. Superman – $7.8 million
7. Jurassic World Rebirth – $4.7 million
8. F1 – $2.8 million
9. Together – $2.6 million
10. Sketch – $2.5 million

What did you think of Weapons and Freakier Friday?

Let us know.

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(via Box Office Mojo)

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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