Weekend Results for February 23-25, 2024
In our final weekend of the "winter drought," One Love maintains its reign, Demon Slayer makes a strong debut, Ordinary Angels hopes for staying power, while Drive-Away Dolls is rejected by audiences
Bob Marley: One Love - $13.5 million (-52%) in 3,597 locations (+48)
Recent biopics typically have strong staying power at the box office. While this is not as strong of a hold as Elvis (-40%) or Bohemian Rhapsody (-39%), it fares better than Straight Outta Compton (-56%). One Love has already amassed a commendable $71.2 million after eleven days in theaters. Unless this experiences a significant decline due to competition from Dune: Part Two and the other March releases, I anticipate this to gradually surpass the $100 million mark domestically.
It is certainly a positive turn of events for Paramount, especially after their challenges in 2023. In an alternate scenario, One Love might have mirrored The Color Purple's initial strong opening followed by diminishing returns. However, due to the film's positive reception and strong word-of-mouth, audiences are genuinely embracing it. Additionally, the overall movie landscape in 2024 has been relatively lackluster, leaving viewers hungry for fresh and captivating content, which further benefits One Love's success. Perhaps not to the same extent as Elvis Presley's impact on Austin Butler, but could this be a career-defining role for Ben Adir Kingsley that elevates his status in Hollywood? Audiences first gathered a glimpse of him last year as the villainous Gravik in Marvel’s Secret Invasion and in a cameo as one of the Kens in Barbie.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba - To the Hashira Training - $11.6 million (New) in 1,949 locations
As anticipated, this was never going to debut at the level of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Movie: Mugen Train, which earned $21.2 million, but it did surpass the second installment, which grossed $10.1 million last February.
Similar to The Chosen films, the Demon Slayer entries enjoy strong openings but tend to taper off quickly once the initial rush of fans subsides. While their box office figures might appear modest, instances like this where an additional $10 million is added are truly welcomed by theater owners, who are relying on ticket sales more than ever.
Ordinary Angles - $6.5 million (New) in 2,800 locations
An astounding opening? Not quite. But I am genuinely optimistic about this film's prospects. It became apparent later in the week that audiences might have experienced a saturation of faith-based films in February, particularly after the recent respectable openings of The Chosen installments. Consequently, moviegoers might have opted to postpone viewing this weekend and instead wait for a little while, granting themselves a brief respite.
But the stellar word of mouth is evident with the A+ CinemaScore, marking this as our first 2024 release to achieve this distinction. Among our 2023 releases, only four have attained such acclaim: Jesus Revolution, Sound of Freedom, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, and Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé. However, it is worth considering whether Swift and Beyoncé truly belong in this category. While they did screen in theaters, these titles were more akin to events than traditional films, and thus were naturally predisposed to be well-received given their massive fanbases.
Returning to Ordinary Angels, anticipate it resonating well with older demographics and potentially garnering repeat viewings. Moreover, its release timing is favorable, coinciding with the approaching Easter next month, which could further elevate awareness and interest in the film for the weeks ahead. Will this be the breakthrough role for Hilary Swank or a significant boost for Alan Ritchson’s career within Hollywood? Probably not. Although expect this film to be a solid addition to their resumes.
RelishMix suggested, “Audiences who are drawn to see Reacher star Alan Ritchson headlining the film, appreciate the different type of performance than his action-oriented roles and there’s enthusiasm to see Hilary Swank return to theaters.”
Although its opening weekend fell short of expectations, this film is built for the long haul, not just immediate success.
A basis for comparison going forward is Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Released in April 2023, this opened to $6.7 million before reaching a domestic total of $20.3 million.
Madame Web - $6 million (-60%) in 4,013 locations
A much stronger hold than Morbius, which plummeted 73% during its second weekend. However, this achievement is not particularly noteworthy considering Morbius opened nearly two and a half times higher than Madame Web. After eleven days in theaters, its total stands at $35.4 million. Barring a normal rate of descent moving forward, expect this to wrap up with around $45 million. Sony executives, this performance should serve as a red flag and a wake-up call! If not, I do not know what will. End this Spider-Man Universe without Spider-Man after Venom 3, and then provide audiences with higher-quality content they will enjoy using this IP.
Migration - $3 million (-21%) in 2,422 locations (-21)
With $120.4 million after ten weeks of release, Migration has shown remarkable staying power, benefiting from its goodwill and the absence of competition in the kid-friendly releases market. Its performance closely mirrors that of Sing 2 from two years ago. Despite opening on the lower end of expectations in December 2021, Sing 2 capitalized on a lackluster release calendar and maintained its momentum all the way into April at the box office. Migration will face tough competition in two weekends against Kung Fu Panda 4, which appears set for solid opening numbers. As a result, expect it to reach around $125 million, a remarkable achievement considering many doubted it would even hit $100 million following its release.
Argylle - $2.8 million (-41%) in 3,060 locations (-587)
Despite its solid holds over the past two weekends, the prevailing narrative remains that this film is a financial disaster. I am genuinely concerned about Matthew Vaughn's future, considering his financial and critical decline after peaking in 2015 with Kingsman: The Secret Service.
With $41.7 million accumulated after four weeks of release, this film appears to be on track to finish similarly to another Henry Cavill spy adaptation, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. The latter was considered a disappointment at the box office against its $75 million budget. However, with Argylle, the budget is nearly three times greater so one can only imagine just how much of a catastrophe this is turning out to be.
Wonka - $2.5 million (-27%) in 2,203 locations (-144)
With $214.5 million domestically after eleven weeks of release, Wonka has surpassed Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania to become the seventh highest-grossing release of 2023. It looks poised to earn a couple more million dollars, nearing $220 million before its release on Max on March 8. Next weekend, Timothee Chalamet will reclaim the spotlight with the highly-anticipated Dune: Part Two, a film that cinemas desperately need to rejuvenate the box office right now.
Drive-Away Dolls - $2.4 million (New) in 2,279 locations
Well, this is a disastrous result for a film that nobody seems to like. Fueled by poor word of mouth and a C CinemaScore, expect it to fall off a cliff with very limited staying power in the subsequent weeks.
While critics do not seem to detest this film, audiences have an alternative perspective. RelishMix summarized social media reactions and indicated, "Though the appearances of Pedro Pascal and Matt Damon are exciting fans, some are bemoaning that their roles are likely small and being overly used to promote the film. Many compared the film to Dumb and Dumber but with females', while some argued that the film is derivative, saying ‘Even though it’s new, I feel like I’ve already seen this movie.'"
Awareness was also a major issue as Tracker Quorum reported, “Dolls arrives in theaters with only 20% awareness.”
Ethan, you need your brother more than ever right now, so could you please go back to making movies together, rather than separately?
The Beekeeper - $2 million (-38%) in 2,157 locations (-400)
After seven weeks of release, The Beekeeper has maintained its momentum with $63.1 million, poised to reach an impressive $65-70 million before leaving theaters. These figures mark a remarkable resurgence for Jason Statham's enduring career as an action star.
The Chosen: Season 4 Episodes 4-6 - $1.8 million (-48%) in 2,090 locations (-150)
Respectable results for a franchise that audiences used to flock to on opening weekend, leaving few others to catch it later, hence the frequent 75-80% drops. However, the two most recent installments have experienced closer to 50% drops, suggesting that these Chosen films are beginning to garner broader popularity beyond the Fathom Events crowd. This has resulted in a gross of $7.9 million after ten days of release.
Do ya one better $101 coming off from many factors, Chalamet, Zendaya, Butler, Pugh, IMAX waves of movies, first movie’s buzz/6 oscars and three weeks of imax run! Cannot wait to be on the show for the hype!
DUNE IS FINALLY HERE!!!!!! CMON JACK BETTER BE READY FOR THE DEEDS ON THE NEXT ARTICLE!