©Universal/Courtesy of Everett Col
Universal’s horror comedy Cocaine Bear surpassed box office expectations, grossing an impressive $23 million in its opening weekend in 3,534 theaters in North America. The blood-spattered animal adventure landed at number two on the domestic charts behind Disney’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which almost collapsed on its second run.
Ant-Man 3 managed to stay in the top spot given its whopping $106 million opening, but the comic series suffers from negative word of mouth. It added $32.2 million from 4,345 venues in its second weekend of release, a brutal 69% drop from its debut.
Now Quantumania holds the ignominious distinction of being the biggest week-over-week drop in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including Black Widow (which plummeted 67.8% on Disney Plus debut) and Eternals (which plummeted 62% collapsed). after equally bad reviews). The film has grossed $364 million worldwide, including $167 million domestically and $196 million internationally.
Elizabeth Banks directed “Cocaine Bear,” which grossed an additional $5.3 million at the international box office for a $28.4 million worldwide debut. The film’s budget was around $35 million. For Universal, “Cocaine Bear” is another win for original ideas after his killer doll film “M3GAN,” which became a surprise hit at $170 million worldwide.
“It’s an outrageous comedy that absolutely lives up to its premise,” said Jim Orr, President of Domestic Sales for Universal. “People were willing to see something over the top.”
Moviegoers were mixed on “Cocaine Bear,” giving the film a “B-” CinemaScore. Inspired by the true story of a drug smuggler’s plane crash, the wildly R-rated “Cocaine Bear” follows small town residents as they try to escape a 500-pound black bear who is swallowing a punched-down duffel bag.
“Viewers tend to go hard after being disgusted,” says David A. Gross, who runs film consultancy Franchise Entertainment Research. But that didn’t stop people buying tickets. “Horror comedy thrives on sass, and this tale of an accidentally cocaine-crazed bear is insane,” he adds.
In third place, Lionsgate’s religious drama Jesus Revolution smashed all estimates by debuting in 2,475 theaters for $15.5 million. Heading into the weekend, the film should gross between $6 million and $7 million.
Faith-based audiences — 59% were female and 89% were 25 years of age or older — were entranced by “Jesus Revolution,” earning the film a rare “A+” CinemaScore. From I Can Only Imagine filmmakers, the Erwin Brothers and their Kingdom Story Company, the $15 million film follows a youth minister and a pastor who get involved in the evangelical Christian movement, the Beginning conquered Southern California in the 1970s.
Paul Dergarabedian, a senior Comscore analyst, says there is a “massively underserved, faith-based audience.” “With ‘Jesus Revolution’ [Kingdom Story Company] have hit another big hit in their partnership with Lionsgate and created quite a fruitful business model to bring these types of films to an enthusiastic and loyal fan base.”
“Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” rounded out the box office charts. At No. 4, James Cameron’s sequel Avatar added $4.7 million from 2,495 venues in its 11th weekend of release. At $665.4 million, it is now the ninth-highest-grossing film in North America. Overseas, the sci-fi blockbuster has grossed a whopping $1.6 billion, bringing its global tally to $2.267 billion.
Another box office hit, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish followed closely behind with $4.1 million from 2,840 locations in its 10th weekend in theaters. The animated sequel, set in the “Shrek” universe, has secretly grossed $173 million domestically and $442 million worldwide.
Overall, box offices are up an encouraging 47% over last year, according to Comscore. Michael B. Jordan’s sports drama Creed III, Paramount’s thriller Scream VI, Warner Bros. superhero sequel Shazam: Fury of the Gods and John Wick: Chapter 4 will attempt to build momentum in the coming weeks to maintain .
“To date, 2023 has been a lot better than 2022, but 2022 dug into an early hole with a tenuous release schedule,” says Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. “So this is a hollow victory.”