OPENINGS:  The only new arrival in wide US release was the woebegone VOYAGERS (Lionsgate), which got a minimal push from its studio and opened at a low $1.4M, fated for $5M or so in the US. The major new international opening was MORTAL KOMBAT (Warners), which brought in $10.7M from 17 territories.  It opens […]

  OPENINGS:  GODZILLA VS KONG (Warners, also on HBO Max) had the biggest US theatrical debut since the onset of pandemic closings with $48.5M over 5 days ($32.2M for the 3-day weekend).  It will clearly roar past Tenet‘s $57.9M to become the highest-grossing title in over a year, and could pass $100M in the US.  […]

  OPENINGS:  NOBODY (Universal) had a fair start at $6.7M, better than the $4.1M opening for Let Him Go and the $3.1M for The Marksman.  Following the Universal pattern it will hit premium VOD after 2 more weekends, and may hope to reach $20M in US theatres.  Overseas, it launched with $5M. The much bigger […]

  OPENINGS:  With the LA movie theatre market now open (at 25% capacity) and a general rise in vaccinations, the box office seems to be taking its first very tentative steps back to pre-pandemic life.  The one wide opening of the weekend THE COURIER (Roadside) wasn’t at all impressive at a $2M start, but the […]

  OPENINGS:  RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON (Disney, also on Disney+) launched with $8.6M in theatres, and while it also earned (undisclosed) income from super-premium VOD through Disney+, that number was notably lower than last week’s $14.1M for Tom & Jerry, which premiered simultaneously on HBO Max.  Raya was supposed to benefit from the reopening […]

  OPENINGS:  TOM & JERRY (Warners, also on HBO Max) had a solid opening for this moment in time with $13.7M, an especially impressive number since the movie is available at no extra cost to anyone with an HBO Max subscription.  If Tom & Jerry can have the kind of sustained run that other family […]

  HOLDOVERS: NOMADLAND (Searchlight/Disney, also on Hulu) earned $500K at 1175 theatres after 2 weeks in limited release for which the studio didn’t provide numbers.  That’s, a weekend per-theatre average a bit over $400.  Even by the standards of split theatrical/streaming Oscar contending releases like Judas and the Black Messiah (which averaged about $1100 at […]

  OPENINGS:  The Presidents Day weekend wide releases were Sundance titles seeking to take advantage of the expanded “2020” Oscar calendar, which includes films released through February 2021.  Both would likely have been platformed releases in a non-pandemic marketplace, and remained niche in their appeal.  JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH (Warners, also on HBO Max) […]