Behind the US/Worldwide Box Office – 11.14.2021

• Tweet
• Email

• Tweet
• Email

OPENINGS:  CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG (Nickelodeon/Paramount, also on Paramount+) opened on Wednesday and earned $22M over 5 days, $16.4M of it over the weekend.  That’s somewhat above the $13.1M start for Paw Patrol, which was also simultaneously released on Paramount+ and opened on a Friday.  Paw Patrol totaled $40.1M in the US, and with Thanksgiving dead ahead (albeit with strong competition from Disney’s Encanto), Clifford could see $50M before it’s done.  The film hasn’t yet opened overseas.

Awards hopeful BELFAST (Focus/Universal) launched at 580 theaters with $1.8M, an OK start for a film that will hope to be in voters’ minds for the long haul.  Thus far during the pandemic era, Focus has put its films on VOD about 3 weeks after initial release (Last Night In Soho will be available next week), and it isn’t clear whether that will applly to Belfast as well.

HOLDOVERS:  With no new direct competition, ETERNALS (Marvel/Disney) easily kept the weekend’s box office crown with $27.5M.  However, in the context of the MCU, a 61% drop for a purely theatrical release in that circumstance isn’t great, probably reflecting the negative buzz around the film.  With $118.8M so far and a long holiday ahead, Eternals may still reach $200M in the US.  Overseas, it has $162.6M after a $48M weekend in 49 territories.

DUNE (Legendary/Warners, also on HBO Max) dropped 29% to $5.5M in its 4th weekend, and should pass $100M in the US.  It also has $258M overseas after a $6.8M weekend in 76 markets.

NO TIME TO DIE (MGM, also on VOD) wasn’t hurt by its availability at home, down 24% to $4.6M in its 6th weekend, as it continues toward $165M in the US.  That number is in the shadow of the $558.2M overseas total (the highest for any English-language film in the pandemic era) after a $24M weekend in 72 territories.

VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE (Marvel/Columbia/Sony) continues to hold extraordinarily well, down just 10% to $4M in its 7th weekend, now past $200M in the US and with some gas left in the tank.  It has $238.8M overseas after a $7.7M weekend in 55 markets, with Australia and Japan yet to open.

RON’S GONE WRONG (20th/Disney) dropped 38% to $2.2M in its 4th weekend, on its way to $30M in the US.  It also has $32.8M overseas.

Although the competition for the title isn’t fierce, THE FRENCH DISPATCH (Searchlight/Disney) continues to lead arthouse releases, down 29% to $1.8M in its 4th weekend as it heads toward $20M in the US.  It’s earned $11.3M overseas.

SPENCER (Neon) lost 28% to $1.5M despite a 25% rise in theater count (to 1265), meaning that its per-theatre weekend average fell 43%.  Spencer is currently on track for $10M in the US, but it remains to be seen how much wider the film can expand, or what the studio’s plans are for availability at home.  The film has $1.4M overseas.

ANTLERS (Searchlight/Disney) was down 39% to $1.2M in its 3rd weekend and probably won’t reach $15M in the US.  Its overseas total is $4.9M.

HALLOWEEN KILLS (Blumhouse/Universal) continued its post-holiday swoon, down 54% to $1.1M in its 5th weekend and likely to end up at $95M in the US (down about 40% from the 2018 Halloween).  It has $39M overseas.

LIMITED RELEASE:  JULIA (Sony Classics) debuted at 5 theaters with a decent $4200 per-theater average.  THE SOUVENIR PART II (A24) nearly tripled its theater count to 42 but collapsed by 65% with a per-theater average below $350.

NEXT WEEKEND:  GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE (Columbia/Sony) is the big-budget arrival, and KING RICHARD (Warners, also on HBO Max) will hope to be a factor throughout awards season.  Limited releases include CMON CMON (A24).