The May box office is entering one of its strangest weekends of the year where older releases are doing most of the heavy lifting while Hollywood quietly waits for the arrival of The Mandalorian & Grogu over Memorial Day. Instead of a giant new blockbuster dominating theatres right now, the current race is being led by holdover titles that continue pulling surprisingly strong numbers even several weeks after release. And honestly, the battle between Michael and The Devil Wears Prada 2 has become much tighter than many expected.
Both films have spent the week trading positions almost daily at the domestic box office. On Tuesday, each movie reportedly earned around $4.7 million, showing how close the competition currently is. Then on Wednesday, Michael slightly pulled ahead with $3.3 million while Devil Wears Prada 2 followed closely behind at $3.2 million. That difference may sound tiny, but it reflects how both films are attracting very different audiences while still staying commercially strong deep into their theatrical runs.
Michael especially continues to perform like a major event film globally. The biopic has now crossed more than $600 million worldwide, including over $250 million domestically and nearly $354 million internationally. That overseas strength has become a huge advantage for the film because music-driven biopics often rely heavily on nostalgia and worldwide fan attachment. The renewed IMAX and premium large-format screens this weekend could help the film maintain momentum even longer.
Meanwhile, The Devil Wears Prada 2 is proving that female-driven studio sequels still have enormous theatrical potential when marketed correctly. The sequel has now crossed more than $154 million domestically, which is already a strong achievement for a fashion-world comedy drama. The film’s steady weekday performance suggests audiences are continuing to treat it more like a comfort-watch event rather than just a front-loaded opening weekend release.
At the same time, Mortal Kombat 2 is expected to take a heavy second-week drop after opening strongly last weekend. The video game adaptation debuted with around $38.5 million domestically, but projections now suggest the sequel may fall close to 60% in its second frame, potentially landing somewhere near $15 million. That kind of decline is not unusual for action-heavy franchise films, especially once the hardcore fan rush begins fading after opening weekend.
Still, the biggest surprise of the weekend could actually come from a much smaller movie. Obsession, acquired by Focus Features after its TIFF Midnight Madness attention, is suddenly generating strong buzz online thanks to extremely positive early reactions. Directed by YouTube filmmaker Curry Barker, the horror thriller currently holds very strong Rotten Tomatoes critic and audience scores, which is helping push curiosity among younger viewers.
The film follows a young man who discovers a mysterious object capable of making the girl of his dreams fall in love with him, but things quickly spiral into chaos. The setup sounds simple on paper, but audiences are reportedly responding well to the psychological horror angle and unpredictable tone. The movie is currently tracking around $8 million to $9 million for the weekend, though industry insiders believe it could overperform if word-of-mouth grows stronger after Thursday previews.
What’s making Hollywood pay extra attention to Barker is the fact that his career has suddenly exploded almost overnight. Alongside Obsession, the filmmaker has already landed another project starring Aaron Paul and is also reportedly attached to direct a new The Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot for A24. That kind of fast rise almost never happens unless studios believe they have discovered a major genre talent early.
Meanwhile, In the Grey marks another attempt by Guy Ritchie to return to gritty action storytelling. The film stars Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal and Eiza González as elite covert operatives sent on a dangerous mission involving a stolen billion-dollar fortune. Despite the star power, the film’s box office expectations remain relatively modest, with projections between $4 million and $6 million.
Part of the reason may be because the movie reportedly sat unreleased for nearly two years before eventually being reclaimed by Black Bear Pictures for domestic distribution. Delayed releases sometimes struggle to generate urgency with audiences, especially in today’s crowded streaming-focused entertainment landscape. Still, Guy Ritchie’s loyal fanbase and the action-heavy marketing could help the movie find stable business among older male audiences.
Then there’s Is God Is, which arrives with some of the strongest reviews of the weekend. Directed by Aleshea Harris and adapted from her acclaimed stage play, the revenge drama follows two sisters confronting painful family trauma while seeking justice. The film features a cast that includes Janelle Monáe, Sterling K. Brown and Vivica A. Fox, while earning extremely strong early critic reactions.
Overall, this weekend feels less like a traditional blockbuster showdown and more like a transition phase before the summer movie season fully explodes. Holdover films are still controlling the market, horror is quietly building momentum again, and audiences seem to be rewarding strong word-of-mouth more than massive marketing campaigns right now. The real test, however, begins once Disney unleashes the next chapter of the Star Wars universe later this month.
