As a long-time movie enthusiast and someone who has witnessed the ebb and flow of the box office trends, I must say this recent slump in the domestic box office is truly disheartening. The lack of fresh, innovative content and an overreliance on sequels has left many of us film fanatics yearning for a good movie to sink our teeth into.
As the final week approaches before the much-awaited clash between Wicked-Gladiator II, a fresh Christmas film has been released in cinemas to boost ticket sales. Red One debuted in 4,032 theaters and managed earnings that were more mediocre than festive. Over its first weekend, Red One earned just $34 million, which is disappointing for a movie with a budget of $250 million, especially considering it was initially intended for streaming. Barely outperforming another family-friendly original live-action film, IF.
As a fan, I found it surprising that Red One, a Christmas-themed movie starring Dwayne Johnson, performed pretty much as well as anticipated. On The-Numbers, Red One had the fourth-highest domestic opening weekend for a Christmas film. When it comes to Johnson, this debut was in line with Rampage, Central Intelligence, and Jungle Cruise’s initial showings. Interestingly, Red One only opened 6% lower than Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, although that 2017 comedy title lost some early interest by launching mid-week. Except for Jungle Cruise, all of Johnson’s previous films had much lower production costs than Red One. Additionally, Red One surpassed Knives Out and secured Chris Evans.
Christmas movies are remarkable productions under the direction of Jake Kasdan. This production has an A- CinemaScore and strong staying power, as it saw an approximately 88% increase from Friday to Saturday in ticket sales (excluding its opening weekend grosses). It’s highly probable that this film, despite stiff competition during Thanksgiving, will surpass $100 million domestically. If it achieves this milestone, it would be only the 15th movie to do so in North America. This film is quite peculiar in its box office performance. Red One, in a way, is a paradox – it’s expected to incur significant financial losses, especially since its international earnings prospects are bleak. However, it has reaffirmed that Johnson remains a reliable draw for families, even after some less successful films like Black Adam. Similarly to the recent Christmas movie release, it’s also a hopeful sign that audiences will continue to attend theatrical Yuletide-themed films post-March 2020.
Despite criticism for being a poorly-received movie, Amazon’s newly-acquired MGM Studios are undeniably thrilled as Red One managed to earn $34 million in box office sales. With upcoming blockbusters like Voltron, Masters of the Universe, and Bond 27 on the horizon, this success demonstrates that Amazon MGM Studios can compete with major studios in terms of ticket sales and financial performance. Movies such as Red One, The Beekeeper, and Challengers are expected to contribute significantly to Amazon MGM Studios’ growing box office record in 2024. If only Red One didn’t suffer from being one of the worst films of the year or had a more reasonable budget compared to the first Avatar!
In the movie scene, the action blockbuster titled “Venom: The Last Dance,” directed by Kelly Marcel, experienced a 53% decrease in earnings during its fourth week, earning $7.3 million this weekend. Interestingly, it saw an impressive increase of 127% from Friday to Saturday, suggesting that it’s performing more like a family-friendly film compared to other superhero movies. To date, “Venom: The Last Dance” has amassed a total of $127.6 million domestically after being in the market for 24 days.
Over its second weekend, the film “Heretic” experienced a decrease of 52%, earning $5.16 million, bringing its total to $20.4 million over 10 days. This makes it the 15th A24 movie to surpass $20 million domestically. Depending on its performance during Thanksgiving, “Heretic” is projected to make approximately $35 million domestically. Not bad at all!
As a gamer, here’s my take on paraphrasing the given text:
Message to larger independent film studios such as Focus Features and Sony Pictures Classics: Experiment with theatrical releases of crowd-pleasing films from various parts of the world. These studios often overlook foreign language films, but there has always been an eager audience for such productions in theaters. Abramorama is profiting from this trend, and so can you.
This weekend, the movie “A Real Pain” expanded to 1,185 locations and earned $2.3 million, making an average of $1,941 per theater. If it manages to maintain its screenings through Thanksgiving week, it’s expected to have a prolonged run in cinemas. So far, “A Real Pain” has grossed $3 million domestically. In its second wide release weekend, “Anora” saw a minor drop of 27% and made an additional $1.83 million. It generated this revenue from 1,500 theaters, resulting in an average of $1,226 per theater.
For the first time, Sean Baker’s film “Anora” has surpassed $10 million domestically, making it his initial movie to achieve this milestone. It’s only the second limited release of 2024 (after “We Live in Time”) and the seventh movie distributed by Neon to reach this significant figure in North America. This week, similarities between “Anora” and “Parasite” were further emphasized. Unlike “Parasite,” “Anora” had a smaller fifth-weekend earnings, but their second wide-release weeks were identical (with “Parasite” playing in fewer theaters). At the same stage, “Anora” is trailing “Parasite” by just 7%.
In its fifth week in theaters, “We Live in Time” continued its successful run by earning an additional $1.13 million, bringing its domestic total to a remarkable $23.9 million. On the other hand, “Here” saw a 64% drop during its third weekend, collecting only $865,000, leaving it with a domestic total of $11.6 million. Newcomer “Ghost Cat Anzu” managed to gather $158,229 from 328 theaters, averaging $428 per theater. Lastly, “The Substance”, despite being in its ninth week, still managed to pull in another $136,850, reaching a domestic total of $16.312 million. This title defied expectations and became a modest money-maker.
The film “All We Imagine is Light” started its initial run in theaters this weekend, earning a robust $51,000 across three cinemas, translating into a healthy per-theater average of $17,000. This opening weekend performance per theater surpasses that of Janus Films’ release “EO” from two years ago ($12,000). Meanwhile, “The Outrun” reappeared in 167 theaters this weekend, taking in a disappointing $27,412. Its domestic earnings now total $940,486, with Sony Pictures Classics aiming to push it past the million-dollar mark.
Once again, this past weekend saw disappointing earnings at the domestic box office, with the top ten films earning a total of $66 million. Starting in June 2024, the domestic box office enjoyed a four-month spree of success as various types of movies flourished. The strong opening weekend of The Wild Robot marked the end of this profitable trend. Since the release of Joker: Folie a Deux in early October 2024, we’ve been in a seven-week slump at the box office. Let’s face it: the reasons for this slump are pretty obvious. The limited number of major new releases, most of which are sequels, and lackluster movies like Joker, Smile 2, and Red One, have kept audiences from going to theaters.
Over the past seven weeks, films such as “Terrifier 3”, “Conclave”, and “Anora” have been financial successes. Yet, the domestic box office top ten hasn’t exceeded $100 million in nearly two months, which is no coincidence. The selection of new releases has been lackluster and often rehashes familiar content instead of venturing into uncharted territory. However, there’s optimism on the horizon with “Wicked”, “Gladiator II”, and “Moana 2”. What’s more exciting is that December will bring a wave of fresh releases, including “Sonic the Hedgehog 3”, “Mufasa: The Lion King”, “Nosferatu”, and many others. Contrary to the market being barren after Thanksgiving, December promises a flurry of new titles.
Over the first weekend of December 2024, approximately six new movies are expected to hit theaters, marking the start of a busy holiday season. These upcoming releases hold promise for revitalizing the domestic box office. Moviegoers are eager to enjoy films on the big screen, so it’s essential to offer them something fresh instead of constantly promoting remakes of earlier hits like the Joker and movies starring Dwayne Johnson. Here’s hoping that the success of Bad Boys: Ride or Die and The Wild Robot will reignite cinema-goers’ passion for hitting theaters, ultimately benefiting theater owners and employees.
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2024-11-18 15:15