TO UPDATE: National Cinema Day drew 8.5 million admissions with Sunday box office grossing $34 million. In terms of admissions, Cinema Day 2023 was up 5% from last year’s 8.1 million admissions (which paid for $24 million at the Saturday box office). All tickets for all films and seasons were $4, up from $3 last year.
The total number of entries for the past weekend was 14.3M according to EntTelligence (Comscore reported that the weekend’s BO was $92.8M). Thus, Cinema Day Sunday accounted for 59% of all pedestrian traffic. Total Friday-Sunday box office admissions for last year’s Labor Day film were 10.5 million (from a three-day box office of $55.6 million), with Cinema Day Saturday accounting for 77% of that film’s leftover box office.
The good news here is that the entire box office wasn’t lost this weekend on National Cinema Day. However, Sony’s detailed preview of Gran Turismo is included in these attendance figures. In the same breath, more money was made on National Cinema Day than Friday ($28.1M) and Saturday ($30.7M). Overall, the BO on Sunday was +11% compared to Saturday.
The purpose of last year’s National Cinema Day was to lure people to the cinema to shake off their nervousness about the Corona crisis and to boost attendance at cinemas when there was no product on display. This year was different: there were a lot of tent poles with Warner Bros.’ The sixth Barbie Weekend for $15.1M rivaled Sony’s first big Gran Turismo Weekend ($17.4M) after the latter included nine days of early sneak previews in its opening Friday. On the distribution side, there are some skeptics as to whether we would need National Cinema Day this year. Exhibition, which hasn’t withheld the fees for online ticket booking, disagrees.
Top pictures for the cinema day
1.) Barbie (WB) 3,736 cinemas, Sun admissions 1.4 million sun BO $5.67M (+5% compared to Saturday) Weekend BO $15.1 million/week 6
Warners predicted they would hit 1.937 million for Barbie yesterday. That didn’t happen.
2.) Blue Beetle (WB) 3,871 cinemas, Sun admissions 1.35 million sun BO $5.4 million (+32%) Weekend BO $12.1 million/week 2
3.) Gran Turismo (Sony) 3,856 cinemas Sun tickets 1.17 million sun BO $4.7 million (+15%) Weekend BO $17.4 million/Week 1
4.) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Par) 3,145 cinemas, Sunday admissions 831.8K sun BO $3.3 million (+38%) Weekend BO $7.2 million/week 4
5.) Oppenheimer (Uni) 2,872 cinemas Sun tickets 666.8K sun BO $2.66 million (-19%) Weekend BO $8.22M/week 6
“The positive response to National Cinema Day is just another reminder of how much people love going to the movies,” said Michael O’Leary, president and CEO of the National Association of Theater Owners, in a statement. “In every corner this weekend, audiences gathered in great numbers to share the experience of seeing great stories on the big screen. These numbers tell us that the future of exhibitions is strong and that consumer enthusiasm for the theatrical experience continues unabated.”
National Cinema Day was a huge success as it brought millions of film fans of all ages together to enjoy films on the big screen,” said Bryan Braunlich, executive director of the Cinema Foundation. “Cinemas and all of our partners helped maximize the impact of the day through creative marketing and special promotions that added excitement, while a diverse selection of exciting films offered something for everyone. Thank you to all the hardworking people who make the theater experience magical.”
More than 3,000 locations and more than 30,000 screens across the United States and Canada participated in National Cinema Day.
The outputs for “Gran Turismo” were great with 5 stars on PostTrak and an A CinemaScore; The picture is an underdog story with Seabiscuit and Rudy flair.
EntTelligence reported that Barbie has sold over 50 million tickets during its domestic run. The picture’s total sales are $7.2 million, falling short of the $600 million mark. Barbie today surpassed the worldwide box office gross of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two ($1.34 billion) and became fully Warner Bros. All-time highest-grossing film in company history.