Nobody really believed for a second that Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon stood a chance of toppling Taylor Swift at the top of the domestic box office, but the biggest new movie on the planet does feature Leo in a prominent role, it’s just not the one you’re thinking of.
While Mr. DiCaprio’s latest feature did indeed fall short of matching The Eras Tour on home soil, it out-performed the all-conquering concert film on a global level, with Scorsese’s latest acclaimed drama taking home an estimated $44 million from every market it was released, compared to the $42 million accrued by Swift’s big screen sensation.
And yet, neither of them can lay claim to being the number one biggest box office hit, and as mentioned, it’s all thanks to Leo. The Tamil-language action thriller got off to an incredible start both in its native India and overseas, raking in $48.5 million to establish itself as the new top dog on the feature-length block.
Also known as Leo: Bloody Sweet in certain markets, local superstar Vijay stars as the title hero, a mild-mannered cafe owner who ends up becoming a small town hero. However, his good deed sets off a chain reaction that has ties to a previous life he tried to leave behind, in what’s both the third installment in a cinematic universe and a comic book adaptation in the loosest sense of the world.
Leo is the latest chapter in the Lokesh Cinematic Universe and heavily inspired by A History of Violence, so you’ve got to wonder what would happen if somebody told Scorsese a comic book movie that’s part of a universe and features a lead named Leo ended up preventing Killers of the Flower Moon from topping the global box office.