The box office numbers are once again here, and it’s been quite an interesting weekend. Smaller programming has been on a raise as The Northman pulled in $12M and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent managed $7.1M. What is interesting is that the former had a worse audience score with a B but still had the stronger pull. Robert Eggers‘ film may get hit a bit in its second weekend with word-of-mouth but it still had a stronger pull and will secure its audience. As Deadline points out, these two films share a similar audience which ends up cannibalizing each other. In the era of Netflix losing its momentum, it may be a showcase of the importance of counter-programming to streaming offerings.
The smaller pull and adding non-four-quadrant programming also add some momentum to the theater that may become an advantage for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness once it opens in just a few weeks. Speaking of Multiverse, Everything Everywhere All at Once has been continuing to expand and is climbing up the ladder to become one of A24’s most successful releases. So, it’s definitely an uplifting trend to see these titles gain more momentum once again, as smaller budget films pulling in an audience.
The weekend’s top performer ended up being The Bad Guys, as the Universal and Dreamworks Animation’s film is overperforming. Initial expectations saw it at $15M but it ended up ending the weekend with $24M. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 had a stronghold as well, as it now is nearing $150M with a $15.2M weekend. So, the weekend has been quite strong for indie and family showings. The Sonic sequel is also currently further moving towards $300M worldwide as it holds strong as the best performing video game adaptation.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore has managed to hold on to the third spot, but it’s the worst second-weekend drop for any entry of the Fantastic Beasts franchise, but it’s the second-worst for the Harry Potter franchise which had a 72% drop. To be fair, it was also coming off of a $169M opening weekend. Yet, it must be highlighted that the film has been doing strong international, which is becoming its saving grace but might not be able to balance out its current standing as part of the Wizarding World franchise.
Source: Deadline, Deadline (int.)
