OPENINGS: It was a blah MLK Weekend at the box office, driven by soft openings. Over the 3-day weekend, ONE OF THEM DAYS (TriStar/Sony) was reported to have a very narrow lead with $11.6M, but it was expected to fall into 2nd place with $14M including the Monday holiday. The good news for Sony is that Them Days was quite inexpensive, so it has a fair chance of finding a modest profit. It didn’t open outside the US.
WOLF MAN (Blumhouse/Universal) appears to be a shakier proposition. Although its budget wasn’t high, a $10.6M 3-day weekend ($12M with Monday) won’t get it very far. The international launch was even worse, with $4.8M in 53 markets.
AUTUMN AND THE BLACK JAGUAR (Blue Fox) barely registered with a bit over $100K for the 3-day weekend at 605 theaters (the studio says $250K with the holiday).
Before the fires hit LA, this was supposed to be the weekend of the Oscar nominations, and a variety of awards hopefuls planned expansions to the low edge of wide release. Their 3-day weekend per-theater averages didn’t go well: THE ROOM NEXT DOOR (Sony Classics) with $800 at 861, SING SING (A24) with $400 at 560, ANORA (Neon) with $300 at 536, and CONCLAVE (Focus/Universal) with $300 at 542.
HOLDOVERS: The Thanksgiving/Christmas releases continued to hold strongly with little new competition. In its 5th weekend MUFASA: THE LION KING (Disney) dipped 19% over the 3-day weekend to $11.5M, and was expected to regain the box office lead on Monday with $15.5M, headed for $240M in the US. It continued to be bigger overseas, with $382.2M after a $20.3M weekend in 52 territories.
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 (Sega/Paramount) became the highest-grossing entry in its franchise. In the US, it was down 24% for its 5th 3-day weekend to $8.6M ($11M with the holiday), also on its way to $240M. Internationally, it had $203.5M after a $15.2M weekend in 64 territories.
DEN OF THIEVES: PANTERA (Lionsgate) fell 56% for the 3-day weekend to $6.6M, much steeper than the 43% Weekend 2 drop for the first Den. (It’s expected to bring in $7.8M over the 4-day weekend.) It has $5M overseas.
MOANA 2 (Disney) has reached $1B at the worldwide box office, more than 50% higher than the first Moana. It’s not done: in the US, the 8th 3-day weekend was down just 7% to $6.1M ($8.4M with Monday), and it could hit $465M. Internationally, it had $567.1M after a $7.9M weekend in 52 markets.
NOSFERATU (Focus/Universal) continued its climb to $100M in the US. For its 4th 3-day weekend, it dropped 38% to $4.3M ($5.1M with the holiday). Overseas, the total was $66.2M after a $7.7M weekend in 65 territories.
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN (Searchlight/Disney) dipped 26% in its 4th 3-day weekend to $3.8M ($4.6M with Monday), and should reach $70M in the US, with potential upside from Oscars attention. It hasn’t yet begun meaningful international release.
WICKED (Universal, also on VOD) lost 31% to $3.6M in its 9th 3-day weekend ($4.6M with the holiday) and may hit $475M in the US. The overseas total is $244.1M.
BABYGIRL (A24) continued to hold well despite a relative lack of awards recognition, down 34% to $2M in its 4th 3-day weekend ($2.5M with Monday) and on a path to $30M in the US. Internationally, it has $5.3M.
LIMITED RELEASE: I’M STILL HERE (Sony Classics) hoped to benefit from a Best Actress Oscar nomination as it opened, and without that averaged $25.1K at 5 theaters over the 3-day weekend GRAND THEFT HAMLET (MUBI) averaged $1100 at 75. BOTH EYES OPEN (Oasis) averaged $250 at 35. Again, a lot of the action came from Oscar-season expansions. The most successful was THE BRUTALIST (A24), which widened to 338 theaters with a $6K 3-day averages. Other 3-day averages were lower: SEPTEMBER 5 (Paramount) with $3K at 121, NICKEL BOYS (Orion/MGM/Amazon) with $1200 at 240, THE SUBSTANCE (MUBI) with $500 at 481, FLOW (IFC) with $700 at 325, and HARD TRUTHS (Bleecker Street) with $1300 at 121.
NEXT WEEKEND: The pickings will continue to be slim, with wide openings for FLIGHT RISK (Lionsgate) and INHERITANCE (IFC), and a limited release for PRESENCE (Neon).
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