After all the hallelujahs about the return of cinema at CinemaCon last week, the major studios have refrained from programming new broad releases this weekend. It all adds up to a marketplace that is seeing an estimated $64 million in ticket sales, down 33% from last weekend. Pooh. As for when the majors will sit on the sidelines again this year, there’s June 3 and possibly August 12 (Searchlight is pinning the date for an untitled broad entry).
D Disney
If it feels like a desert in the multiplex, get ready for Thursday night’s monsoon with Disney/Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness forecast to rain everywhere 150 to 200 million dollars. Tracking sees it at at least $150 million; It wouldn’t be shocking if the picture hit $200 million, but Disney doesn’t want to get over its skis. Doctor Strange 2 already has the best pre-sales of the year, ahead of The Batman $42M. This is all the start of a very rich summer, and after the rave reviews of Top Gun: Maverick from CinemaCon, Tom Cruise must wait for the biggest global and national opening of his career by beating War of the Worlds ($64.8). M, his highest domestic) and The Mummy ($172.3 million, the 3x Oscar nominee’s biggest global debut).
As such, animations from Universal/DreamWorks will be featured this weekend The Bad Boys at the weekend 2 again at number 1, with $14.4M-40%, for a total of ten days until tomorrow from $42.7M. With nothing else written on the marquee, today after the matinees it wouldn’t be surprising if this were higher. And all other family fares are holding onto their top spots, ie Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 eyes a fourth weekend of $9.7M in 2nd place, -38%, for a running total of $159.3M, and Warner Bros.’ Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, with appreciated $7.5M 3rd at the weekend, -46%, with a running cume of $78.8m through EOD Sunday.
A24
Further proof that there is an appetite for original fare at the box office is the amazing impact of A24 Everything everywhere All at the same time, what sees $5.3M over the weekend 6 with a whopping 2% drop for a running total of $35.2M. This AGBO production can easily increase to over $40M. Forget that, some say $50 million, which could mean it potentially topples A24’s highest-grossing film of all time, Uncut Gems ($50 million).
“Remembrance” Briarcliff Entertainment
Open Road zigzags to the big studio and launches their broad entry of Liam Neeson’s action film. Storageby director Martin Campbell eyeing $3.1M at 2,555. While I’m sure the exhibition is appreciative of the new product, what’s disturbing here is that the feature is doing similar business in an improved market to other Neeson Open Road images when NYC and LA were closed during Covid, i.e. The Marksman ($3.1 million) and Honest Thief ($4.1 million).
Memory’s top 5 markets yesterday, on a day that lasted $1.1Mwere Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, Dallas – Ft Worth and Chicago, with the top-grossing theater of the day being the iPic Theater at Fulton Market in Manhattan.
Well, it’s all about home appliances and dudes for these Neeson cookie-cutter action titles. Critics have had enough of the Neeson-with-a-gun pics at 29% Rotten, and those who decided to show up and sit in the dark and eat popcorn for almost two hours gave it 66% and 49% on Comscore/ PostTrak by Screen Engine. My goodness.
Voter turnout was 51% male, 84% over 25, and 46% over 45. The diversity demos were 49% Caucasian, 20% Hispanic and Latino, 20% Black, and 11% Asian/Other. Most of the money seen in this image came from the West and Southeast. RelishMix says that social media awareness on Memory is “well below action thriller genre norms at 18.6 million across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.”
Ahead of the opening, Social Media Analytics Corp said, “Chatter is running a mixed bag, with crystal clear expectations — with every Neeson film, with the assumption that someone will be kidnapped and ‘we’ll bring them back.’ The plot and filmmaking components are secondary to these superfans, who also agree that Neeson, with his voice and other gibberish about his stash of Burner phones, would make a perfect Batman. Superfans also dubbed Neeson and Denzel Washington “unironically the best action stars of recent memory.” Fans Reveal The Secret Algorithm Behind This Movie; Taken + Unknown = Memory… and Memento ÷ Unknown = Memory.”
Viking Epic by Focus Features The Northman looks like a second weekend with -51% $6M for ten days $22.5M.
Also trying to fill the weekend gap is the Telugu language action drama acharya, who is willing to earn an estimated $2M in 396 cinemas in 117 markets. The image has seen some big numbers in NYC, Dallas, San Francisco, Atlanta, Houston, Seattle, Charlotte and Baltimore. Written and directed by Koratala Siva, the film is about a Naxalite-turned-social-reformer who begins a fight against the Endowment Department for embezzling temple funds and donations.
lion gate
Lionsgate’s Nic Cage satire Unbearable weight of massive talent considered $3.6M weekend 2, -49%, a 10 day $13.1M for what appears to be $20 million in final domestic gross when all is said and done.
Some thoughts on this at CinemaCon: Despite the film’s unsettling premiere following its buzzy world premiere at SXSW, competing distributors who have been handling similar products believe this film will be over-indexed in home entertainment, the bread and butter of Cage.
Though Cage is arguably on the rise professionally after his critically acclaimed Pig, he’s been in turmoil at the box office for quite some time; His last live-action tentpole was 2007’s National Treasure: Book of Secrets ($220 million domestic, $459 million WW). Hence the limited reach of this superb, critically acclaimed (87% certified fresh) comedy, captivating the audiences who eventually go for it. If Neeson made a self-parody comedy, we’d expect similar results.
Still, thumbs up to Lionsgate for releasing this film theatrically and not tossed on PVOD or streaming. Why is this? Chances are that the story will side with Unbearable Weight and that it will be in the same breath as This Is Spinal Tap ($4.7 million domestically by 1984 standards) and The Big Lebowski (18, $2 million in 1998) will become a cult classic. If this image was a direct release, it wouldn’t have this resonance.
1.) The Bad Boys (Uni) 4,042 (+34) Theater, Fr $3.7M (-54%), 3 days $14.4M (-40%)/Total $42.7M/week 2
2.) Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Par) 3,801 (-8) Theater, Fri $2.5 million (-37%), 3 days $9.7M (-38%)/Total $159.3M/week 4
3.) Fantastic Beasts… Dumbledore(WB), 3,962 (-283) cinemas, Fri $2.1M (-47%) 3 days $7.5M (-46%)/Total $78.8M/week 3
4.) The Northman (Foc) 3,234 (+50) cinemas, Fri $1.8M (-64%), 3 days $6M (-51%)/Total $22.4M/week 2
5.) Everything everywhere at once (A24) 2,213 (+80) cinemas, Fri $1.56 million (+1%)/3 days $5.3M (-2%)/total $35.2M/week 6
6.) Unbearable weight of massive talent (LG) 3,036 cinemas, Fri $1.1M (-62%), 3 days $3.6M (-49%)/Total $13.1M/week 2
7.) The Lost City (Par) 2,595 (-233) Theater Fr. $1M (-21%), 3 days $3.5 million (-19%)/Total $90.4M/ week 6
8th.) Storage (Open Road) 2,555 cinemas, Fri $1.1M3 days $3.1M/Week 1
9.) Acharya (Prime Media) 396 cinemas, Fri $832,0003 days $2M/Week 1
10.) Father Stu (Sony) 2,476 (-229) cinemas, Fri $615,000 (-40%), 3 days $1.98 million (-40%), Total $17.3M/week 3