After a poor Memorial Day weekend, we have a poor post-holiday period, with all titles grossing an estimated $67.4M, -67% from a year ago. Remember when? That’s when Sony proved superhero movies weren’t dead with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse contributing to a marketplace that grossed $205.1M.
Some sources who I speak with continue to question theatrical’s viability in its fierce competition with streaming. However, we wouldn’t be in this box office downturn if it wasn’t for the strikes, which disrupted the supply chain, and overall product.
Many are lumping Garfield and Furiosa in one big ball of blah, but that’s not right: The family film on its own is fine, given its reported $60M production cost parameters (before P&A). Whereas, Furiosa was a very expensive gamble at $168M with– face it–a limited audience appeal (global B.O. for the Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth title is now $114.4M –eesh).
If there was a big profitable tail on Mad Max: Fury Road due to Oscars, then perhaps it was better to go with a sequel than a prequel, given that the movie just rebooted a male-skewing dystopian franchise after 30 years. Sequels are always more sound commercial investments than prequels.
That said, in slow times come interesting battles, and throughout the weekend, Paramount’s IF was nudging Furiosa out of second place, the two respectively now reporting $10.8M (-33% in weekend 3) and $10.75M (-59%). IF‘s cume stands at $80.4M, 2% ahead of the running total for Ryan Reynolds’ Free Guy at the same point in time, that movie finaling its domestic at $121.6M.
Meanwhile, Sony’s The Garfield Movie reigns with a second weekend of $14M (-52%), global weekend of $41M, domestic cume of $51.5M, and global of $152.2M. Given those low family ticket prices, admissions for Garfield this weekend outstripped Furiosa again, with 1.3 million admissions to 700K admissions. Garfield’s average ticket price was $10.75 vs Furiosa’s $15.
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Furiosa still has Imax auditoriums, but Crunchyroll/Sony’s Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle has some of those, that pic looking at a No. 5 slot with $1.9M Friday and $3.5M for the weekend, now in 6th place. Remember that when it comes to these anime movies, the U.S. market is simply gravy money, much like domestic is for Bollywood movies. Dumpster Battle already has made $75M from Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, and Hong Kong.
Anime fans who showed in a small way gave the movie a 93% positive and 80% definite recommend on PostTrak. Most women here at 54%, interestingly enough, with 80% of the audience being 18-34. The 18-24 demo were the biggest at 42%. Diverse audience at 36% Latino and Hispanic, 30% Asian American, 23% Caucasian and 8% Black. The Crunchyroll movie’s bets markets were East, South, and West, with the AMC Empire in New York making the most in the nation at $21K.
20th Century Studios’ Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes had a fourth Friday of $2.4M at 3,450 theaters, 3-day of $8.8M, -34%, and running total of $139.9M in fourth place. By EOD, the Wes Ball-directed sequel is $6.9M away from overtaking previous chapter War for the Planet of the Apes’ domestic total of $146.8M in 2017. See, some event movies are working. Invest in Apes!
Outside the Top 5, IFC’s horror movie In a Violent Nature is still looking great. On Thursday, the movie posted the best previews ever for an IFC movie at $410k. While Late Night with the Devil posted IFC’s biggest opening ever at $2.8M last year, and looks to be its highest-grossing horror movie ever at $10M, In a Violent Nature has notched the second-best opening ever for the distrib with $2.119M in 1,426 locations, after $1M Friday in 8th place.
In terms of theater count, that’s IFC’s widest ever. What does this boil down to? Other arthouse distributors are seeing the need for under-34 product in the space, and want to step up to jockey with A24 and NEON. That’s what IFC has been doing, and it’s what MUBI is about to do with their Cannes acquisition of Demi Moore horror film The Substance.
Said Head of AMC Networks’ Film Group, Scott Shooman: “Since its premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, In a Violent Nature has been steadily making waves for redefining the classic slasher genre. Chris Nash’s feature debut masterfully delivers a radical approach, and some of the most original kills in history, establishing itself as a film that will have a lasting impact in the horror space. Our opening weekend reach is a testament to the continued collaboration between IFC Films and Shudder in championing fresh theatrical experiences, which can also be seen in our ongoing successes with Late Night with the Devil and Skinamarink. We’re thrilled to keep this momentum going and continue to deliver the highest quality and most unique genre films around.”
There was no PostTrak or CinemaScore on In a Violent Nature, through Rotten Tomatoes audiences were put off by it at 44% vs critics at 87% certified fresh. Movie played in the East and West, with AMC Burbank racking up the most gross at $13K.
Other wide entries scraping the bottom of the barrel are Bleecker Street’s Ezra with $571K on Friday, and $1.1M for the weekend in 9th. Not PostTrak or CinemaScore exits, but the movie played evenly across the country with The Wayfarer in Chicago making the most with $9k.
Roadside Attractions femme comedy Summer Camp is seeing $390K and $1.06M in 10th place, with a C CinemaScore. The movie didn’t play well. I mean, the Cinemark Carolina in Ashville, North Carolina, was the highest-grossing theater with less than $2K.
Jerry Bruckheimer’s highest-tested movie, the British period movie Young Woman in the Sea starring Daisy Ridley, looks to have made, per industry estimates, around $500K. The 84% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes title, which was pivoted from a Disney+ debut, is only in theaters for two weeks before hitting the streaming service.
Disney isn’t reporting grosses, as they’re eyeing this strictly as an awards play and don’t want to bring any tarnish to the movie’s prestige. RelishMix reported that the movie’s social media universe across TikTok, X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube at 92.5M is average for a biopic.
Many in the industry, particularly after the success of The Boys in the Boat, fell this was a lost opportunity, left on the table, and that Disney should have committed more, as Daisy Ridley puts in an outstanding performance. I understand filmmakers and studio are in lockstep on the distribution plan.
Why isn’t this wider? Sometimes, when you pull a streaming movie out of streaming and put it onto screens, there can be a lot of legalese hang-ups. Not everything goes as cleanly as Paramount’s Smile in that transition.
The chart:
1.) Garfield The Movie (Alcon/Sony) 4,108 (+73) theaters, Fri $3.7M Sat $5.8M Sun $4.4M 3-day $14M (-42%) Total $51.5M /Wk 2
2.) If (Par) 3,783 (-285) theaters Fri $2.9M, Sat $4.3M Sun $3.5M 3-day $10.8M (-33%), Total $80.4M/Wk 3
3.) Furiosa (WB) 3,864 (+60) theaters, Fri $3M, Sat $4.4M Sun $3.3M 3-day $10.75M (-59%) Total, $49.7M/Wk 2
4.) Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (20th/Dis) 3,450 (-100) theaters, Fri $2.4M Sat $3.7M Sun $2.7M 3-day $8.8M (-34%), 4-day $15.9M, Total $139.9M/Wk 4
5.) Fall Guy (Uni) 2,826 (-129) theaters, Fri $1.22M Sat $1.75M Sun $1.23M, 3-day $4.2M (-30%), Total $80.2M/Wk 5
6.) Strangers -Chapter 1 (LG) 2,527 (-329) theaters, Fri $1.1M Sat $1.4M Sun $1M 3-day $3.6M (-35%) Total $28.3M/Wk 3
7.) Haikyu! The Dumpster Battle (Cru/Sony) 1,119 theaters, Fri $1.9M, Sat $950K Sun $635K, 3-day $3.5M/Wk 1
8.) In a Violent Nature (IFC) 1,426 theaters Fri $1M Sat $645K Sun $450K 3-day $2.1M/Wk 1
9.) Ezra (BST) 1,320 theaters, Fri $572K Sat $371K Sun $241K 3-day $1.1M /Wk 1
10.) Summer Camp (RSA) 1787 theaters, Fri $390K Sat $396K Sun $277K 3-day $1.06M/Wk 1