OPENINGS: January is often welcoming to low-budget horror, but that didn’t help THE DAMNED (Vertical), which found $800K at 732 theaters, a meager $1100 weekend per-theater average.
HOLDOVERS: Flooding the holiday zone with family entertainments worked out very well for the studios, which had a quartet of bona fide smash hits between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. MUFASA: THE LION KING (Disney) took the weekend with $23.8M, down 35% from last weekend, and seemingly on its way to $250M in the US. (The current family movies have no new competition until Dog Man on January 31.) Its score is higher overseas with $307.8M after a $53.5M weekend in 52 markets. A $700-750M worldwide total would be less than half the $1.66B earned by The Lion King in 2019, but should still be enough to nudge Mufasa into profit.
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 (Sega/Paramount) had a slightly steeper Weekend 3 drop, down 43% to $21.2M, but as it’s currently ahead of Mufasa, it should also end up around $250M in the US, considerably ahead of Sonic 2‘s $190.9M for a new franchise high. However, it’s had far less international appeal than Mufasa, with $148.8M after a $51.2M weekend in 61 territories. Even so, Sonic 3 should outpace its predecessors outside the US.
The decision to counterprogram holiday cheer with the very serious horror of NOSFERATU (Focus/Universal) turned out to be a masterstroke, giving filmmaker Robert Eggers easily the biggest hit of his career. In the US, Nosferatu lost 39% to $13.2M, and could make its way to $100M. It also has $31M overseas after its first wide weekend with $26.8M in 61 markets.
The earlier pair of family blockbusters are still holding strong. MOANA 2 (Disney) dipped 34% to $12.4M in its 6th weekend, on its way past $450M in the US. It’s even bigger internationally with $535.3M after a $26M weekend in 52 territories, and should top $1B worldwide before it’s done. Remarkably, that would be more than 50% higher than the $643.3M global total for the first Moana in 2016.
WICKED (Universal, also on VOD) dropped 48% to $10.2M, in its first weekend since becoming available at home. It should still reach $475M in the US. Its comparative Achilles Heel is overseas, where it has $230.5M after a $10.8M weekend in 81 markets.
This wasn’t just a good box office for genre. A COMPLETE UNKNOWN (Searchlight/Disney) held well with $8.1M, down 31%. It’s currently headed for $65M in the US, but awards traction could add some upside. It’s US-only for now.
Word of mouth seems to be working wonders for BABYGIRL (A24), which amazingly held almost exactly steady at $4.5M, and could get past $30M in the US, especially if Nicole Kidman has an awards run. It’s barely opened overseas.
GLADIATOR 2 (Paramount) lost 35% to $2.7M, and should reach $175M in the US. It has $280.8M internationally, which may not be enough to pull the spectacularly expensive film out of red ink.
HOMESTEAD (Angel) was down 32% to $2.1M, and will hope to see $25M in the US. It hasn’t opened elsewhere.
The one dud of the holiday openings was THE FIRE INSIDE (MGM/Amazon), down 37% to $1.2M. It’s unlikely to get much past $10M in the US, and so far has attracted little awards attention. No openings overseas as of yet.
KRAVEN THE HUNTER (Marvel/Columbia/Sony) fell 35% to $1.1M, and is likely to finish with around $25M in the US. International has been slightly better at $35M, but that’s not nearly enough to rescue it.
LIMITED RELEASE: An IMAX re-release of SE7EN (New Line/Warners) brought in $900K at 200 theaters, a $4600 weekend per-theater average. Most of the other arthouse action came from expanding awards hopefuls. THE BRUTALIST (A24) added 1 theater for a total of 8 and averaged $31K. FLOW (Janus/Sideshow) averaged $1700 at 127. THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (Goldwyn) widened to 93 with a $2200 average. NICKEL BOYS (MGM/Orion/Amazon) averaged $8400 at 18. ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT (Janus/Sideshow) expanded to 44 with a $1700 average. SEPTEMBER 5 (Paramount) averaged $4600 at 13. VERMIGLIO (Janus/Sideshow) had a $5800 average at 3.
NEXT WEEKEND: DEN OF THIEVES 2: PANTERA (Lionsgate) will seek ticketbuyers who are ready to move on from the holiday releases.
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