SATURDAY UPDATE: They’ve hit the guts of the summer box office, with Sony’s new C CinemaScore horror film The Invitation leading $6-7M from 3,114 theaters. Like the late Andy Rooney, I get a lot of mail from sources. But in this case, it’s about why it’s important to be kind when covering the box office: we’re still in a pandemic, we’re not back yet, it’s not good for our business to be nasty, blah blah blah.
However, haphazardly putting movies in theaters without a heavy P&A spend doesn’t do the box office or exhibitors any favors. This weekend will rank as the lowest-grossing weekend to date of the summer, with an estimated $54 million for all titles (some even lower). If it makes anyone feel better, it’s not the worst weekend of the year. That’s for Jan. 28-30, when all titles earned $34.9 million, per Box Office Mojo.
On some level, I get it: it’s the end of August. Most kids are back in school (Comscore says 32% of K-12s were out yesterday, with 38% of colleges on vacation), and Sony has traditionally had a horror movie during the latter part of the summer Don’t Breathe was a wonderful hit for them in late August 2016, opening to $26.4 million and ending with $89.2 million.
But let’s be honest, the more you spend, the dirtier. Admittedly, this period vampire thriller’s diagnoses with a 29% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 53% audience score don’t warrant a studio shelling out coins to open it. But we’ve seen Sony do better with less: Its August 2018 film Slender Man , which had a D-, 8% critic score, and 17% viewership on RT, opened to $11.3 million and had a 2.7 multiple for a $30.6 million domestic. end game
According to RelishMix, the social media chatter at The Invitation wasn’t horrible as a mixed positive, with “fans making and shouting out movies for Vanilla Sky, Ready or Not, Twilight, Meghan Markle and Jordan Peele, too. Chatter wonders how good these ingredients look for a wild vampire night out.”
Let’s get away from the pandemic excuse that people don’t want to go back; it’s simply about product. Disney proved this last year by opening a Marvel movie over Labor Day weekend with Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings to record holiday grosses of 94.6 million of dollars Great movies will bring people out any time of the year.
Yes, theaters need it, that’s product. But let’s leave some of the umph behind if we’re serious about the theatrical window and the longevity of this part of the business. What’s sad when exhibitors’ Covid bailout money runs out is that they’re desperate for anything and powerless when it comes to a major studio dictating that the first big franchise title of the summer, Halloween Ends , goes to the movies. Let’s not be stupid, this maneuver will divert fat. Enough of this wider audience crap between streaming and theater. Peacock is starving for paid subscriptions.
It’s not like the PG-13 rated The Invitation is an older movie—it’s aimed at the 18-34 crowd going to movies right now, that demo making up 57% of ticket buyers in the photo so far. Like the mainstream PG-13 horror title, The Invitation tilted more women at 57%. Those under 35 made up 70% of the crowd with diversity showings showing 44% Caucasian, 23% Latino/Hispanic, 18% Black, and 15% Asian/Other. The film directed by Jessica M. Thompson was the most accepted on the coasts and in the South. Seven of the top ten runs were in LA, which skewed toward Latino and Hispanic viewers.
And not to pick on Sony, but lately, yes, you, Lionsgate, are guilty of changing the costs and expenses of the YA film Fall, which opened to $2.5 million, and sits at $5.9 million, and with a 74% RT critics diagnosis and 78% audience score, along with a B CinemaScore. With results like this, it looks like money is being left on the table. This photo could have raised more. In short, let’s stop with the pretty cheap slide rule games at the box office, and how we benefit from less BS and actually engage with theater. Can we do it, studies? Obviously, if it’s a bad movie, send it domestic, like they used to do with movies like The Last Seduction II. Shipping terrible movies to the home market is not a new business model.
Everett
Given the lack of product this weekend, MGM/UAR went much wider than expected for the Cannes Film Festival premiere of George Miller’s 3,000 Years of Longing , which, with a 67% Rotten Tomatoes and B CinemaScore, opens to $2.9 million in 2,436 theaters. Guys actually showed up for this Idris Elba-Tilda Swinton genius romance, with 51% between 17-34 and 48% over 35. Diversity demos were 55% Caucasian, 16% Latino/Hispanic, 13% Black, and 16% Asian/Other. . Pic’s ticket sales are in the big coastal cities, with AMC and Alamo owning the first ten routes.
MGM
But hey Amazon, why don’t they expand on a Sylvester Stallone movie? When you grow up, do you realize you bought MGM and start releasing big theatrical titles and reporting box office? I mean, like the campaign stick types!? Love and watch the theater studio you bought, don’t waste it!
Why in God’s name is the movie straight to the service? Stallone’s latest film Rambo: Last Blood opened to $18.8 million. This is a diamond mine by pandemic box office standards. I agree with Warner Bros head of discovery David Zaslav on this: Why strip the patina (and future props) off a theatrical film by sending it straight home? Has it occurred to you that maybe you could sell more toilet paper with a title with a theatrical window than simply dropping it in the service? I mean, you have the billion dollar cost of Lord of the Rings: The Power of the Rings next weekend (the rights alone were acquired by the streamer for $250 million). That alone should trigger an early Christmas season for the market place. On Rotten Tomatoes, audiences love Samaritan at 82%.
RelishMix picked up on the online chatter for the film and believes Samaritan could be a box office contender, with fans expressing “absolute adoration for Stallone, everything he represents in the film industry and the characters heroics he has played”. that they “are also intrigued that this aging superhero project is not a Marvel or DC production and that it itself has fans interested in a unique way.”
The goal is to get people out of the house, not to stay at home.
Top ten movies of the weekend:
1.) The Invitation (Sony) 3,114 locations, Fri $2.6m, $6m 3d to $7m/wk 1
2.) Bullet Train (Sony) 3,513 (-268) theaters, Fri. $1.54M (-31%), $5.5M Three Days (-31%)/$78.1M Total/Week 4
3.) Top Gun: Maverick (Par) 2,962 (-7) theaters, Fri. $1.35M (-13%), $4.9M 3-Day (-17%), $691.3M Total/Week 14Needs $700M . We go!
4.) Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (Raw) 2,941 theaters (-77), Fri. $1.3M (-88%) 3-Day $4.83M (-77%)/Total $31M/Week 2
5.) Beast (Uni) 3,754 (+11) rooms, Fri. $1.3M (-70%) Three-Day $4.3M (-63%)/Total: $19.5M/Week 2
5.) DC League of Super-Pets (WB) 3,284 (-253) theaters, $1.065M Friday (-25%), $4.3M Three-Day (-24%)/74.1 Total million dollars week 5
7. ) 3,000 years of longing (UAR) 2,436 rooms, Fri. $1.16M, $2.9M 3D/Week 1
8.) Minions: Rise of Gru (Uni) 2,494 theaters (-160), Fri. $670K (-29%), $2.73M Three Days (-27%), Total: $354.77M/Week 9
9.) Thor: Love and Thunder (Disney) 2,450 (-305) theaters, Fri. $694,000 (-35%), $2.65M (-35%) over 3 days/Total $336.5M/Week 8
10.) No (Uni) 1,909 (-472) rooms, Fri. $630K (-40%), $2.19M 3-Day (-39%), $117.6M Total/Week 6
11.) Where the Crawdads Sings (Sony) 2,216 theaters (-392), Fri. $650K (-28%), $2.15M Three Days (-31%)/Total $81.7M/Week 7