Theaters appreciate any new title. But there is no evidence that, even where open, the audience is increasing.
The box office is in a period of rest, but Liam Neeson prevails. He debuted two films at # 1 in the past four months; a few weeks ago, a decade-old Neeson title topped the Netflix movie chart. Not bad for a 68-year-old actor who was nominated for an Oscar for “Schindler’s List”, but is now a one-man action / suspense brand.
“The Marksman” dropped “Wonder Woman 1984” from first place; the DC title spent three weeks there and was also shown on HBO Max. Directed by longtime Clint Eastwood producer Robert Lorenz, “The Marksman” stars Neeson as an Arizona farmer who becomes the unlikely defender of a Mexican boy pursued by cartel killers. It fulfills all the requirements of the Neeson brand: a lone wolf that has become vigilant in search of justice.
Neeson debuted “Honest Thief” in October with $ 4.1 million on its way to $ 14 million in theaters. “The Marksman” debuted with just over $ 3.2 million. With fewer rooms available, its average per room was only slightly lower.
As this is the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, all revenues have increased (reported here are the three day totals). Even with this incentive, only a new large-scale film premiered. The top ten titles grossed just under $ 11 million, with all films just over $ 12 million. This represents an increase over the last weekend ($ 9 million and $ 10 million, respectively), which had no new films.
The Friday-Sunday total last year for the same three days reached $ 166 million, representing a 93 percent drop. This is just as bad as it has been since theaters started reopening in August – but fewer theaters are open now and many have cut their opening hours or days.
Another new title placed in the top 10. “Master” (Indin), an Indian Tamil action film starring local superstar Vijay, came in 8th place, although it only showed 107 cinemas (with an estimated $ 214, 00). Seven of the top 10 films are available at home. These showed small declines in relation to the last weekend, or even better revenues. Even those that became available as Premium VOD showed only small decreases. “The War With Grandpa” actually went up 1 percent – at the same time it went from PVOD to a standard price VOD movie.
“The Croods: A New Age”
Universal
The next major release will be on January 29, under the title of Warner Bros. “Little Things”, starring Denzel Washington – which will air on the day and date on HBO Max. It will probably have an almost maximum showing in open cinemas; exhibitors have no choice.
The first ten
1. The sniper (Open Road / Briarcliff) NEW – Metacritic: 43
$ 3,225,000 in 1,975 cinemas; PTA (per average classroom): $ 1,633; Cumulative: $ 3,225,000
2. The Croods: A New Age (Universal) Week 8; Last weekend # 2; also available on Premium VOD
$ 2,004,000 (+ 11%) in 1,855 cinemas (+37); PTA: $ 1,080; Cumulative: $ 40,150,000
3. Wonder Woman 1984 (Warner Bros.) Week 4; Last weekend # 1; also available on HBO Max
$ (est.) 2,000,000 (-33%) in 2,201 cinemas (-17); PTA: $ 909; Cumulative: $ 35,200,000
4. Monster Hunter (Sony) Week 5; Last weekend # 4
$ 1,090,000 (-5%) in 1,694 cinemas (-71); PTA: $ 643; Cumulative: $ 9,200,000
5. News from the world (Universal) Week 4; Last weekend # 3, also available on Premium VOD
$ 1,050,000 (-15%) in 1,953 cinemas (-33); PTA: $ 538; Cumulative: $ 8,720,000
6. Fatale (Lionsgate) Week 5; Last weekend # 5; also available on Premium VOD
$ 530,000 (-19%) in 1,175 cinemas (-47); PTA: $ 451; Cumulative: $
7. Promising young woman (Focus) Week 4; Last weekend # 6; also available on Premium VOD
$ 430,000 (-24%) in 1,333 cinemas (-115); PTA: $ 323; Cumulative: $ 3,400,000
8. Master (Indin) NEW
$ (est.) 214,000 in 107 cinemas; PTA: $ 2,000; Cumulative: $ 214,000
9. The new rhythm of the emperor (Disney) RE-ISSUE
$ 169,000 in 744 cinemas; PTA: $ 227; Cumulative: $ (adjusted) 151,500,000
10. The war with grandpa (101) Week 15; Last weekend # 8; also available in VOD
$ 155,563 (+ 1%) in 422 cinemas (+37); PTA: $ 369; Cumulative: $ 19,237,000
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