This weekend showed a 40 percent increase, but the only global blockbuster belonged to a Chinese action franchise.
Driven by presidents and Valentine’s Day, and no Super Bowl competition, this weekend showed a 40 percent improvement over last week. In the three days, the top ten will gross about $ 10.5 million, with all films grossing just under $ 12 million.
This comes with several important new titles, led by “Judas and the Black Panther”. The Daniel Kaluuya-led narrative of the assassination of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton (also playing on HBO Max, the studio’s third release to have an opening side game) came in third, leading among the debut films. But the biggest factor this weekend is the increase in revenue from almost all of the remnants.
Last year, with Valentine’s Day on Friday, was also a four-day holiday and the total number of films was $ 156 million.
The best news is the impressive performance of “Detective Chinatown 3”. In his native China, during the New Year’s holiday, the film grossed $ 424 million. This is an absolute record of territory for any film. Although it comes from an established franchise, it can suggest that, for the right movie, at the right point, the audience can come back bigger than ever. It may also suggest that it is easier to recreate in a market where alternative home models have a much smaller base.
China raised $ 775 million over the weekend. The country has four times the population of North America, but admission prices are substantially lower. This is 60 times more revenue than here.
“The Croods: A New Age”
Universal
“The Croods: A New Age” has risen back to # 1 with over $ 2 million in its 12th week (and eighth on Premium VOD). It helps to be the only children’s title on the market. “The Little Things” dropped to # 3. The Warner Bros. / HBO Max title surpassed $ 10 million in theaters, with specific unreported audience figures on the streaming platform.
“Wonder Woman 1984” “and” The Marksman “, both over $ 1 million, completed the top five. Both saw a new life with increases over the past weekend.
One factor among the new titles this weekend is the combination of the holiday and the extension of the Oscar qualification to the end of February. Another opening film, “Land,” starring and directed by Robin Wright, raised $ 940,000 in 1,231 theaters, with the expectation that, like other Focus titles, it will be available on PVOD within a month.
“Minari”
Melissa Lukenbaugh
“Land” and “Judas” have joined other early releases that are looking for prizes, and all show the difficulty in recreating the box office momentum to increase their chances. “Mauritanian” (STX) or “Minari” (A24) are not among the top 10 (“Minari” numbers have not been reported). Guantanamo prison “The Mauritanian”, with Jodie Foster and Tahar Ramin, raised $ 144,000 in 245 cinemas. This is an average per room of less than $ 600. The film is initially for cinema only, with the PVOD date of March 2.
“Minari”, one of the main Oscar candidates, played in an undisclosed number of cinemas, but supposedly in a number similar to “The Mauritanian”. Sources outside the A24 suggest that it did better, somewhere in the $ 150,000 to $ 200,000 range.
It is impossible to consider these results as remotely indicative of their appeal in a normal world. “Minari” is not exclusive to the theater. (It has an initial virtual availability on an A24 platform before the broader PVOD on February 26). The main theaters in the main specialized coastal markets are closed. This includes areas with the largest Korean-American audience (with a similar group of characters living in Arkansas the subject of the film).
Like “Nomadland” (Searchlight), whose IMAX movie tickets are even less well-known, it is fair to say that these results suggest little about the film’s appeal. If “Parasite” was released now, in a similar way, it is difficult to think that it would have done much better. And the results are not much less per theater than “Judas”, which has a much larger advertising presence and a wider recognition.
If “Minari” had the best performance possible, he may have made it into the top 10. Or he may have been kept out by the unreported reissue of “The Notebook”, which with an increase on Valentine’s Day could yield around $ 175,000 or more, again depending on the number of cinemas you have (unknown).
A novel that worked, and with the best PTA, is “Uppena” (Greater India). The Telugu-language Indian film was shown in only 74 cinemas, but it performed well to come in 8th place.
The first ten
1. The Croods: A New Age (Universal) Week 12; Last weekend # 2; also available on Premium VOD
$ 2,040,000 (+ 21%) in 1,890 cinemas (-145); PTA: $ 1,079; Cumulative: $ 48,319,000
2. Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros.) NEW – Cinemascore: A; Metacritic: 87; also available on HBO Max
$ 2,000,000 in 1,888 cinemas; PTA: $ 1,060; Cumulative: $ 2,000,000
3. The little things (Warner Bros.) Week 2; Last weekend # 1; also available on HBO Max
$ 1,880,000 (-10%) in 2,090 cinemas (-116); PTA: $ 900; Cumulative: $ 10,280,000
4. (tie) Wonder Woman 1984 (Warner Bros.) Week 8; Last weekend # 4; also available on Premium VOD
$ 1,100,000 (+ 13%) in 1,681 cinemas (-183); PTA: $ 603; Cumulative: $ 41,600,000
4. (tie) The shooter (Open road) Week 5; Last weekend # 3
$ 1,100,000 (+ 15%) in 1,825 cinemas (-193); PTA: $ 603; Cumulative: $ 10,423,000
6. Earth (Focus) NEW – Cinemascore: B +; Metacritic: 61
$ 940,000 in 1,231 cinemas; PTA: $ 764; Cumulative: $ 940,000
7. Monster Hunter (Sony) Week 9; Last weekend # 5
$ 650,000 (+ 10%) in 1,366 cinemas (-101); PTA: $ 476; Cumulative: $ 12,687,000
8. World news (Universal) Week 8; Last weekend # 6; also available on Premium VOD 1537
$ 385,000 (-2%) in 1,243 cinemas (-294); PTA: $ 310; Cumulative: $ 11,362,000
9. Uppena (Greater India) NEW
$ (est.) 200,000 in 74 cinemas; PTA: $ 2,703; Cumulative: $ (est.) 200,000
10. The war with grandpa (101) Week 19; Last weekend # 10; also available in VOD
$ 180,287 (+ 15%) in 525 cinemas (-5); PTA: $ 343,000; Cumulative: $ 20,026,000
Sign up: Stay on top of the latest film and TV news! Sign up to receive our newsletters by email here.