• Box Office

German-Speaking Box Office, May 23, 2022

It may have something to do with the all-of-a-sudden perfect summer weather in Europe: neither Germany nor Austria reported any big changes in their top ten last weekend. The only exception is a film that was released three weeks ago and managed to climb its way up to the last spot in Germany.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness keeps ruling the box office in both countries with a switch-up between Fantastische Tierwesen 3: Dumbledores Geheimnisse (Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore) and The Lost City – Das Geheimnis der Verlorenen Stadt – they are respectively in second and third place in Germany and third and second in Austria.

Downtown Abbey 2 stayed in number four, followed by Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Die Biene Maja – Das Geheime Königreich (Maja, the Bee – The Golden Orb), The Northman, Die Gangster Gang (The Bad Guys), and the Stephen Kind adaption Firestarter.

In tenth place is Everything Everywhere All at Once, an offbeat sci-fi-Kung Fu action-adventure that closed out the charts. It had been in theaters for three weeks, never managing to break into the top ten with so many blockbusters crowding the releases. Until now. Michelle Yeoh plays an aging immigrant caught up in an insane adventure where she alone can save the world. To do so, she has to dive into parallel universes and explore the lives she could have led.

Yeoh is Evelyn Wang, the owner of a small wash & dry clean business, wife, and mother. She is used to daily chaos and overwhelmed by the anticipated visit of her father (James Hong) who tends to get on her nerves. On top of that, she is about to file joint taxes with her husband (Ke Huy Quan) and her daughter (Stephanie Hsu). Their accountant, played by Jamie Lee Curtis is annoyed at the many receipts they dump on her. Just as she is about to explain the business receipts, she is thrown for a loop by the multiverse of her existence. Time and space are skewed as a different husband from another dimension appears and convinces her that a dark entity threatens the universe. Multiple parallel worlds take their turns in her imagination. She is a celebrated chef, a film star, and a decorated Kung Fu fighter. Sometimes she even lives in a cartoon world. With the help of all these personas, she is supposed to fight against the villain but has no idea how to.

This complicated story was conceived by co-directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the creators of Swiss Army Man. Also called “the Daniels”, they managed to make a crazy and highly visual cinematic big screen piece. Tigers & Dragon star Michelle Yeoh shows that she has not lost her talent for action, and Jamie Lee Curtis once again shows her comedic side. Harry Shum Jr. (Glee) and Jenny Slate (On the Rocks) co-star. The film celebrated its world premiere at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.

Next week, expect a huge shakeup in the charts with the release of Top Gun Maverick which was shown out of competition last week at the Cannes Festival.