The "Final Destination" franchise continues to thrive at the box office, as evidenced by the strong opening of its sixth installment, "Final Destination: Bloodlines." The movie was a crowd-pleaser, attracting audiences and generating an impressive $51 million in domestic ticket sales for the opening weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. With international earnings matching the domestic figure, the film achieved a remarkable global debut of $102 million.

In stark contrast, Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye's experimental thriller "Hurry Up Tomorrow" failed to capture the audience's attention, opening outside the top five with a mere $3.3 million. Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at Comscore, expressed that the Weeknd's film was always going to face challenges against the buzz surrounding "Final Destination: Bloodlines."

The success of "Final Destination: Bloodlines" can be attributed to its premiere in 3,523 locations, buoyed by strong reviews from critics, reflected in a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and viral marketing strategies that included a nostalgic image of logs on trucks, reminiscent of one of the franchise's most notorious death scenes.

This release marks a significant revival for the "Final Destination" franchise, which has been dormant since 2011. It also contributes to Warner Bros.'s successful streak, as the studio has recently celebrated consecutive hits with Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" and "A Minecraft Movie." All three titles featured prominently in the weekend's top five rankings.

Disney's "Thunderbolts" secured the second place with $16.5 million, elevating its global total to over $325 million. Meanwhile, "Sinners" fell to third place with $15.4 million, accumulating a global total of $316.8 million. "A Minecraft Movie" continued its strong performance with an additional $5.9 million, resulting in an impressive global total of $928.6 million. Rounding out the top five was Amazon MGM Studios' "The Accountant 2," which generated $5 million in ticket sales.

On the other hand, "Hurry Up Tomorrow" debuted in sixth place. Co-written by Tesfaye and directed by Trey Edward Shults, the film serves as a companion piece to Tesfaye's album and tour. It features a fictionalized version of Tesfaye as an insomniac musician, alongside co-stars Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan. Unfortunately, the film received poor reviews, reflected in a low 13% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a C- score on CinemaScore. Critic Maria Sherman described it as “an exciting vanity project with surrealist imagination but stiff writing, no stakes, limited emotional weight, and an unclear narrative.”

Lionsgate managed the distribution of the R-rated film, which was released on over 2,000 screens. Despite the lackluster response, its $3.3 million opening was sufficient for the studio to deem the venture profitable.

Looking ahead, the next weekend is anticipated to be monumental for movie theaters, with the launches of "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning" and the live-action adaptation of "Lilo & Stitch." Currently, the overall domestic box office shows a nearly 15% increase compared to last year, indicating a buoyant recovery for the industry.

“This weekend is the perfect opening act for what could be one of the biggest Memorial weekends at the box office ever,” Dergarabedian commented, highlighting the excitement surrounding the upcoming releases.

Top 10 Movies by Domestic Box Office
With final domestic figures set to be released on Monday, the following list includes estimated ticket sales from Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, as reported by Comscore:

• "Final Destination: Bloodlines," $51 million.
• "Thunderbolts," $16.5 million.
• "Sinners," $15.4 million.
• "A Minecraft Movie," $5.9 million.
• "The Accountant 2," $5 million.
• "Hurry Up Tomorrow," $3.3 million.
• "Friendship," $1.4 million.
• "Clown in a Cornfield," $1.3 million.
• "Kiki's Delivery Service," $1.1 million.
• "Until Dawn," $800,000.

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press