New York theaters welcomed customers back for the first time in almost a year this weekend. And yet, some high-profile releases are still struggling to sell tickets, a sign that a box office revival may not be in the cards for a few months.
Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon,” a computer-animated fantasy adventure, debuted at $ 8.6 million on 2,045 screens. This failed to match the impressive (for a pandemic) debut of “Tom & Jerry”, which raised $ 14.1 million last weekend, bringing a ray of hope to the suffering exhibition sector. “Raya and the Last Dragon” was also made available to Disney Plus subscribers for a fee of $ 30, a method the company previously implemented with “Mulan”. Although it is a fraction of what a big budget family movie would do in the pre-COVID era, “Raya” has earned enough to capture first place on the national box office charts. Globally, “Raya” won $ 26 million with China and Russia providing the largest contributions with $ 8.4 million and $ 2.8 million, respectively. Animated films tend to cost substantially more than $ 100 million to produce – it is a sign of how the world of theatrical distribution has become distorted that a major Disney release would not raise $ 10 million at the box office on its opening weekend. Part of this has to do with Disney’s refusal to give exhibitors a better cut in box office revenue, with Cinemark and other networks refusing to show the film.
In its second weekend of release, Warner Bros. ‘“Tom & Jerry” raised $ 6.6 million domestically, bringing its revenue to $ 23 million. The film is also being broadcast on HBO Max. Warner Bros. is launching its entire 2021 list on the service at the same time as films open in theaters, a move that shows the growing importance of streaming for media companies. “Tom & Jerry” earned $ 11.6 million globally in 36 markets, bringing its worldwide gross revenue to $ 57.3 million.
Lionsgate’s “Chaos Walking,” a fantasy adventure often delayed and critically criticized with Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley, raised anemic $ 3.8 million for third place. “Chaos Walking,” which is based on a series of popular science fiction novels, cost about $ 100 million to make, which is bad news for the studio, given the negligible opening. It was originally scheduled to debut in March 2019, before undergoing reshoots.
The first five were completed by Focus Features’ “Boogie”, a drama about the Queens basketball phenomenon that was written and directed by chef and author Eddie Huang, as well as Dreamworks Animation’s “The Croods: A New Age”. “Boogie” raised $ 1.2 million, while the “Croods” streak raised $ 780,000, bringing its domestic revenue to $ 53.6 million. “The Croods: A New Age” has grossed $ 157.7 million worldwide since its debut last fall.
With the increase in vaccinations and falling rates of coronavirus, several markets, such as Chicago, Portland and New York, have slowly reopened cinemas in recent weeks. Many of them are operating at reduced capacity, but loosening restrictions is fueling some optimism that businesses may start looking robust in mid-summer, a time when studios have historically released some of their biggest films. But, as this weekend’s mediocre results show, cinemas still face a long and difficult road to recovery.