Flight Risk has passed a major box office milestone. The claustrophobic new thriller movie, which is set almost entirely on a small aircraft and was directed by Mel Gibson, stars Mark Wahlberg as a mob hitman posing as a pilot who has been hired to transport Deputy U.S. Marshal Madolyn Harris (Michelle Dockery) and informant Winston (Topher Grace), who is his target. The Flight Risk release kicked off on January 24 with an $11.6 million 3-day opening weekend gross that saw the movie debut at No. 1 at the domestic box office.
Per Deadline, as of Saturday morning, Flight Risk is projected to take in a total of $5.5 million at the domestic box office during its sophomore weekend, a total that sees it fall to No. 5 on the chart. This gives it a quite substantial week-on-week drop of 53%. However, its cumulative domestic total is set to reach $20.8 million, allowing it to cross the $20 million milestone and drawing nearer to its $25 million budget.
What This Means For Flight Risk

It Still Has A Way To Go

Flight Risk has so far become one of the biggest hits of early 2025. The Mel Gibson movie is only the third new release of the year to cross the $20 million milestone at the domestic box office, soaring past Blumhouse’s Wolf Man to land just behind the Keke Palmer comedy One of Them Days and the heist movie sequel Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. However, it remains to be seen if the movie will actually be able to make its money back.

One of Them Days debuted at No. 2 the weekend before Flight Risk premiered and it is now No. 4 on the chart, above Flight Risk at No. 5.

Movies typically need to earn back two and a half times their budgets in order to break even in theaters, which means that it likely needs to earn something around $62.5 million by the end of its run. Given its current trajectory and its drop of more than 50% in week 2, it may struggle to hit that number. This will likely not be helped by the fact that negative Flight Risk reviews have earned the movie a dismal Rotten Tomatoes score of 26%.
Our Take On The Flight Risk Milestone

Its Theatrical Run Isn’t The Be All, End All

Although Flight Risk may struggle to break even in theaters, it is far from a flop. Given the head start and notoriety it earned with its No. 1 debut, the movie will likely perform quite well on video on demand once it is out of theaters. If its streaming numbers are bolstered by its considerably superior Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 64%, it could have a strong at-home run that redeems its somewhat lukewarm domestic box office performance.
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Source: Deadline

Movie

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Flight Risk

2/10

Release Date

January 24, 2025

Runtime

91 Minutes

Writers

Jared Rosenberg