Weekend Box Office 5/16 - A Downward SPIRAL

[AndyDursin]

Guess it's time to start this up again, but the numbers are still pathetic.

1.) Spiral (LG) 2,811 theaters Fri $3.7M/Sat $3M/Sun $1.9M/3-day $8.7M/ Wk 1

2.) Wrath of Man (UAR) 3,007 theaters (+132)/Fri $1.05M/Sat $1.6M/Sun $1.1M/3-day $3.7M (-55%)/Total: $14.6M Wk 2

3.) Those Who Wish Me Dead (WB) 3,188 theaters/3-day $2.8M/ Wk 1

4.) Demon Slayer (Fun/Ani) 1,930 theaters (-170)/Fri $513K/Sat $796K/Sun $461K/3-day $1.77M (-36%)/Total: $41.9M/ Wk 4

5.) Raya and the Last Dragon (Dis) 2,285 theaters (-30), Fri $395K/Sat $760K/Sun $563k/ 3-day: $1.718M (-11%), Total: $46.1M/Wk 11

6.) Godzilla vs. Kong (WB/Leg) 2,484 theaters (-221),/3-day: $1.46M (-27%)/Total: $95M/Wk 7

7.) Mortal Kombat (New Line/WB), 2,465 locations (-508) / 3-day $1.32M (-45%)/Total: $39.9M/Wk 4

8.) Finding You (RSA) 1,312 theaters (-125) Fri $327,5K/Sat $368,6K/Sun $258K/3-day: $954K/Wk 1

9.) Army of the Dead (Netflix) 430 theaters /Fri $265K/Sat $323K/Sun $192K/$780K/Wk 1

10.) Profile (Foc) 2,033 theaters, Fri $260K/Sat $260K/Sun $150K /3-day: $670K /Wk 1

[Monterey Jack]

-That Demon Slayer anime thing has made almost as much in four weeks as Disney's Raya & The Last Dragon did in eleven.

-Looks like Godzilla vs. Kong gets bragging rights as the first film set to crawl past the $100 million mark in the U.S. in Pandemic Dollars. Black Widow will be lucky to double that when it drops almost two months from now.

[AndyDursin]

That Demon Slayer anime thing has made almost as much in four weeks as Disney's Raya & The Last Dragon did in eleven.

What that shows is that the only thing that's getting people into theaters right now (and possibly going forward too) are pre-established brands and properties that appeal to a specific set of fanbases, who can't wait to see these movies. That's actually a bad thing, because that type of model can't sustain itself, but as I've said over and over, it's going to leave theaters to exhibit a certain type of "brand property" and that will be it.

-Looks like Godzilla vs. Kong gets bragging rights as the first film set to crawl past the $100 million mark in the U.S. in Pandemic Dollars. Black Widow will be lucky to double that when it drops almost two months from now.

Tough call, who knows where we will be mid summer. The way things are going, I don't think it will come near $200 million domestic, but it's a wild card. I can see people are getting out and about over the last week, but are they going to return to theaters? That's the real question here.

I mean, I know you are high into Scarjo and the character, but I listen to some podcasters who happen to be Marvel fanboys, and even they have been saying how uninterested they are in it -- should have come out years ago, the character doesn't have as much appeal now, the story is set before the current Marvel cycle so it's not like it has some direct tie-in with upcoming Marvel movies (the way most of these interlocking films do).

Just seems to me that expecting it to be THE movie to "turn around the box-office" is a real stretch. It's more like something along the lines of CAPTAIN MARVEL than IRON MAN.

Clearly though they are hoping this and other super-hero movies will be getting the movies going again. That's not a diet of filmmaking that's going to get me to get off the couch, but "Big Brand Cinema" is definitely what they are banking on -- or else even Disney has admitted that a mediocre showing will mean that the model has been irrevocably altered by the last 15 months.

[Monterey Jack]

That Demon Slayer anime thing has made almost as much in four weeks as Disney's Raya & The Last Dragon did in eleven.

What that shows is that the only thing that's getting people into theaters right now (and possibly going forward too) are pre-established brands and properties that appeal to a specific set of fanbases, who can't wait to see these movies. That's actually a bad thing, because that type of model can't sustain itself, but as I've said over and over, it's going to leave theaters to exhibit a certain type of "brand property" and that will be it.

The thing is, in the 90s, the Disney "brand name" in and of itself was more than enough for family audiences. Pretty much every movie they released in that decade was an original (okay, adapted from fairy tales and whatnot, but at least not remakes and sequels), and yet audiences flocked to them, because Disney meant something. Now, they release an entertaining original film like Raya, and it makes less at the box office than the awful-looking Tom & Jerry.

[AndyDursin]

Thats the thing. The people who go to the movies now are less likely to want to see anything original. Especially versus 25, 30 years ago. Plus they also released it in the middle of a lockdown with it available via their streaming service so the numbers aren't even worth comparing to.

[Monterey Jack]

Plus they also released it in the middle of a lockdown with it available via their streaming service so the numbers aren't even worth comparing to.

This is why Disney needs to start making movies truly "In theaters only" again, no matter how much the Streaming Mafia bitches about wanting it NAO. If Black Widow removed the "also on Disney+" deal, they'd probably add an addtional 30% to the overall box office gross. If they release it on D+ 45 days later, whatever (most blockbusters make all they're going to by then anyways, even pre-Covid), but they need to force people to go back to theaters again. If anyone complains about it...tough.