Box Office | 'Argylle' Stumbles with $18 Million Opening 

Agent Argylle couldn't quite crack the box office code.

Matthew Vaughn's globe-trotting spy comedy, "Argylle," stumbled in its box office debut, bringing in a disappointing $18 million from 3,605 North American theaters. The film, backed by Apple and distributed by Universal, had a production cost of $200 million and appears to be the year's first major misfire.

Despite receiving poor reviews and low audience scores (with a 35% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a "C+" on CinemaScore), "Argylle" managed to secure the top spot at both the domestic and global box office. It added a mere $17.3 million from 78 international markets, resulting in a worldwide total of $35.3 million.

Vaughn, the filmmaker behind "The Kingsman" series and "X-Men: First Class," originally planned to turn "Argylle" into a trilogy. However, these ambitious plans seem much less likely at this rate unless there's a significant increase in ticket sales. Bryce Dallas Howard stars in "Argylle" as the reclusive author of a popular series of espionage novels. Her life takes a dramatic turn when the plots of her fictional books begin to mirror the covert operations of a real spy organization. The cast also includes Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O'Hara, and Samuel L. Jackson.

This marks Apple's third foray into the big screen after Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" (which opened with $23 million) and Ridley Scott's "Napoleon" (which debuted with $20.6 million). Despite being one of the wealthiest companies globally, Apple presumably doesn't want its name associated with underperforming blockbusters. Breaking even at a traditional studio would require approximately $500 million in global ticket sales, a goal that "Argylle" is unlikely to reach and one that fewer than ten films achieved in 2022 and 2023.

"Argylle" claimed the top spot at the box office mainly because it was the only new movie to open in the last three weeks. Meanwhile, "The Beekeeper," "Wonka," and other holdovers rounded out the top five.

In second place, the faith-based TV series "The Chosen" earned $6 million from 2,300 theaters over the weekend and $7.4 million since its Thursday opening. Fathom Events is exclusively screening Season 4 of the show in cinemas, with two-week runs of episodes one through three starting on Feb. 1, followed by episodes four through eight later in the month.

David Ayer's action thriller "The Beekeeper" landed in third place after spending three weekends in the number two spot. The Amazon MGM film collected $5.28 million from 3,277 venues, bringing its North American total to $49.2 million and its worldwide earnings to $122 million.

Timothee Chalamet's "Wonka" continued to hold the fourth spot for the eighth consecutive weekend, adding $4.7 million from 2,901 locations. After two months in theaters, "Wonka" has grossed $201 million domestically and over $571 million globally. The Warner Bros. musical comedy, with a $125 million budget, stands as a financial success, thanks to its remarkable staying power.

Universal and Illumination's "Migration" swooped into fifth place with $4.2 million from 2,830 venues in its seventh weekend in theaters. The animated comedy, centered around a family of ducks heading south for the winter, has generated $106.2 million in North America and $210 million worldwide to date. With a $70 million price tag, "Migration" managed to remain on the big screen long enough to turn a profit during its theatrical run.

"Mean Girls" dropped to the sixth slot after three weekends at the top. The adaptation of the book, released in 2004 as a movie, then as a Broadway musical, and once more as a movie, brought in $4 million from 3,107 theaters. After four weekends in theaters, "Mean Girls" has accumulated $66.3 million at the domestic box office and $92.7 million globally, a decent result considering its economical $36 million budget.