Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Box Office

  • ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ Dances Up a $114M Opening Weekend, Dominates Internationally

    ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ Dances Up a $114M Opening Weekend, Dominates Internationally

    It looks like Marvel Studios is facing a rather curious development with the latest installment of its Marvel Cinematic Universe. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is expected to end the weekend with around $114M domestically, which is slightly higher than the predictions going into the weekend and lands it a bit below the hoped-for $120M by Disney. Though that should not be a mark of end times, as its biggest challenge lies ahead with the second weekend.

    Still, as pointed out by movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research David A. Gross “for superheroes, average is in the stratosphere” with Marvel Studios opening above $100M even with some believing a tepid response after Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The film did open below Vol. 2’s powerful $146M but ahead of the first’s overall box office. There’s also a chance that the waiting period for this loosely tied Marvel film ending a trilogy after six years just lost a bit of its momentum alongside an overall tepid year besides the surprise Super Mario Bros. Movie.

    Speaking of, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 did manage to dethrone the plumber from his throne to a still impressive second spot with $18.6M. Sony’s romantic comedy Love Again, however, didn’t bring in enough momentum with a B CinemaScore, 13% on RottenTomatoes at a rather tiny $2.4M opening weekend. The film only costs $9M but it still would require some momentum to recuperate its costs. Evil Dead Rise has been pulling quite some numbers as well, as it already stands at $110M globally which is quite bloody great for a $15M budgeted film. Horror still remains the low-budget, high-earners they’ve always been.

    It should be noted that while the domestic box office is a bit behind, globally the Guardians 3 film is doing some impressive numbers. It opened to $168M in 52 markets and now stands at $282M. China has generally been quite behind with any Hollywood production (which means comparisons to previous box office records also need to be kept in mind) but had an actually strong $28M start and very strong word-of-mouth.

    That’s kind of what Marvel Studios’ biggest hope should be. A soft opening is one thing but given Ant-Man 3 didn’t manage to pass $500M. Still, pulling in $465M is something many others still dream of as other big releases like Shazam: Fury of the Gods, and sadly Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves barely made their production budget back. Maybe it’s time to talk less about superhero fatigue and rather about blockbuster fatigue.

    Overall, Marvel’s latest still beat its global expectations with the uncertainty in the Asian market since last year, as China and Korea have kind of backed off especially as Marvel embraced science-fiction with its latest projects; something not too keen in those markets. The film is 70% ahead of the first and pretty much on par with Vol. 2. If you take out China it’s even ahead by 13%, which highlights the difficulties of post-COVID box office discussions.

    It’s crazy to think that a “tepid” box office opening for a Guardians of the Galaxy film is still the 50th highest opening globally of all time. Hell, it’s also the 18th title to do so in May. This does mark the lowest summer opening in some time but Deadline points out that this is actually a more realistic showcase of Guardians‘ box office prowess and Vol. 2 simply had a bit more momentum going into it with appearances in other Marvel movies. Perhaps the lesson is to once again tease future releases rather than an unknown future on the horizon for Marvel.

    Ant-Man was also quite inflated with the arrival of Kang the Conqueror which also gave it a much bigger opening than it probably would’ve had outside of the last two releasing post-Avengers films carrying over that momentum. Guardians didn’t introduce anything new and as a trilogy “ender” it’s also going to speak to its core audience more than newcomers. Overall though, the summer is looking at a $100M average opening so this might not just be Marvel but rather a showcase of so many films releasing after a long time, people might be more selective. All Guardians 3 needs now are strong legs and to beat what has happened to the franchise post Avengers: Endgame to make its $250M budget profitable.

    Source: Variety, Deadline

  • ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ En Route to $110M+ Opening Weekend

    ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ En Route to $110M+ Opening Weekend

    It looks like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has pulled in a strong $48.2M on Friday including its Thursday previews. That would currently put it on a path to making around $110M over the weekend, which is currently on the low end of expectations but it’s unclear how word-of-mouth might affect its Saturday and Sunday gross. This has been adding to some concern of superhero fatigue but it does have a strong A CinemaScore and strong PostTrak showcasing a potential long-run at the box office that may push against the recent developments.

    Deadline has pointed out that while CinemaCon snarked about superhero fatigue (ironically given The Flash was the “highlight” showcased by Warner Bros.), the film is Marvel’s eleventh time topping $100M in May, which is still something no other brand can really compare to at the moment. The film also remains quite male-dominated at 62%, whose positive reaction could keep it going for weeks until Fast X releases in June. The question remains if positive word-of-mouth and a strong hold for a few weeks could actually help push The Marvels later in the year rather than continue a downward trend (or perhaps it’s less a genre fatigue but more a reflection of its marketing as well).

    As of now, it’s new for a Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel to be behind previous entries but also not entirely something new. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Avengers: Age of Ultron was behind the previous entry and could also hint at Vol. 2 getting quite a big boost from releasing in 2017 during the Phase 3 boom after momentum built out of Captain America: Civil War. As of now, the film will likely open slightly ahead of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania which had a powerful opening but lost momentum quickly highlighting the film’s okay word-of-mouth and the Disney+ release strategy from previous years showing its fangs.

    Still, the film is continuing the trend of Marvel opening beyond $100M which isn’t a terrible thing to showcase. There was tracking towards $130M and if momentum suddenly spikes going into its Saturday, there’s a chance but things are a bit calmer for now. What should be noted is that the film has a much stronger international box office at around $71.5M, which would put it at $119.7M worldwide as of Friday.

    There’s a lot that can be said about recent developments, as 2022 still looked strong for Marvel Studios but this year had some surprise hits. The four-quadrant market has been quite focused on Super Mario Bros. Movie by pushing that beyond a billion making up for the missing families in theaters the last few years. That film is finally dethroned but still drops to a strong $18.5M while new release Love Again is dead on arrival with a $2.6M opening weekend.

    There is a good chance that the current development simply reflects a stuffed Summer market and it’s uncertain if other projects won’t face similar developments. With that many films on the horizon and a recession still at play, people might just be a bit pickier this year as seen in the first few months as well. Only a select few managed to hold with a strong male-driven audience but outside of Mario, nothing is really breaking records. What is playing in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s favor is that the international market is seemingly doing quite a bit better now.

    It’s currently still projected for a $260M+ global opening, which is higher than the initially expected worldwide gross for the film. Social is pushing the film quite a bit, especially in Korea which has been a rather rough market as of late. Ironically, if Guardians mends any expectations with Marvel releases, they could be balancing out the domestic slowdown that has occurred this year. While some want to blame Ant-Man 3 for this current development, the Guardians are still some of the more obscure characters in the franchise that haven’t had a new entry since 2017.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Twitter, Deadline, Deadline

  • Cinemascore Reveals ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Hit the Mark with Audiences

    Cinemascore Reveals ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Hit the Mark with Audiences

    As early reviews of MCU films continue to feel increasingly unbiased, word of mouth from opening weekend screenings has seemed to become more valuable than ever. Simply put, folks who are unsure if they’ll see a film or not are waiting for audience reactions before heading to a theater. In the case of Marvel Studios first Phase 5 release, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, less than enthusiastic word of mouth quickly diminished the film’s opening weekend momentum leading to a precipitous second weekend drop. After early reviews for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the latest installment of the studio’s Multiverse Saga, added to some pre-existing doubt about the film’s opening weekend performance it seems even more people were waiting to hear what audiences had to say about the film before deciding to take in a showing. Now they have the answer they’ve been waiting for.

    More than one review of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (including our own) has indicated that the film is a return to form for Marvel Studios and it would seem opening night audiences agreed. Cinemascore, which polls opening night audiences as they exit the theater, has revealed that the Guardians farewell flick resonated strongly with fans and scored an A.

    With an “A”, Vol. 3 joins the two previous Guardians of the Galaxy films in earning the high rating. It also joins Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as the only films in the Multiverse Saga to be scored an “A” (Spider-Man: No Way Home earned the elite “A+” Cinemascore).

    With Vol. 3 currently tracking for somewhere in the ballpark of a $120M opening weekend, it’ll be worth following how the positive word of mouth impacts the second weekend. There’s no immediate box office challenger to Guardians and while there’s always a second weekend drop off, the studio will hope to avoid the massive 69% drop suffered by Quantumania.

    Source: Twitter

  • Mamma Mia! ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Passes a Billion at the Box Office

    Mamma Mia! ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Passes a Billion at the Box Office

    Nothing is stopping the Italian plumber from dominating the box office until Chris Pratt’s next film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, hits theaters next week. Still, it was ample time for the Super Mario Bros. Movie to pass the always coveted one billion milestones at the worldwide box office. It took the film 26 days in total to pass that mark and now stands at $490M in the US with an additional $532M internationally. That makes it the fifth film to accomplish this during the pandemic since Spider-Man: No Way Home gave theater owners hope for the future.

    The film opened to a powerful $204M across five days and marks the second-highest debut for an animated film and the biggest opening weekend of the year following Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s still impressive opening in February. For now, the Nintendo film is the biggest earner of the year with quite a bit of competition on the horizon ready to take its mantle. The film has the advantage of being one of the biggest brands in the world and has a heavy nostalgia element tied to the project, which helps boost the otherwise dead family market we saw earlier in the year.

    The question remains what this might mean for the future of video game adaptations? We’ll very likely see a boom as it is the next “superhero genre” trend in the market even as that genre of filmmaking still remains surprisingly strong even with a much softer development earlier this year. Ant-Man 3 opened strongly but fizzled out due to Disney’s streaming strategy in the past but it’s not a clear sign of a true “fatigue” as some have been maliciously waiting for.

    The biggest takeaway from those that hit a billion is the nostalgia of it all. No Way Home re-introduced the world to some major characters from their childhood with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield returning in their respective roles. Top Gun Maverick hit a chord with older audiences due to its callbacks to an old era of star-first productions, which oddly many want back even with its strong restrictions of actors in samey roles and the industry depending even more on individual stars rather than giving smaller ones a chance.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Super Mario Bros.’ Holds On to the Top Spot as ‘Evil Dead Rise’ Surprises at the Box Office

    ‘Super Mario Bros.’ Holds On to the Top Spot as ‘Evil Dead Rise’ Surprises at the Box Office

    It looks like Nintendo has fully dominated the box office, as The Super Mario Bros. Movie faces another soft drop in its third weekend and has pulled in $58.2M domestically and another $70M internationally. As such, the film is now at a strong $434.33M stateside and $437.5M in international markets, which sums up to a powerful $871.8M. It’s interesting that the film has such a strong weekend hold but seems to fizzle out a bit during the week after a strong 81% drop on Monday. Still, it seems that the film just pulls in multiple generations to relieve their gaming childhood.

    That is not all, as Evil Dead Rise, the counter-programming for the weekend, has been released and finds its way into quite the strong start at $23.5M. That is quite the number considering it only cost around $15M and proves once again just how powerful horror is in the market. It’s also a sigh of relief for Warner Bros. who originally wanted to release this film as a direct-to-streaming offering on HBO Max before the new leadership changed gears.

    It received a B CinemaScore but that has become quite common for anything with horror elements or gore in it. So, it should be taken lightly and we’ll see how its legs develop. Evil Dead Rise has the task to beat 2013’s Evil Dead reboot which had a slightly higher opening but also a just as slightly higher budget. If it has strong legs it might even surpass the $97.5M budget but Super Mario Bros. Movie is taking up most of the market at the moment.

    Guy Ritchie’s latest film, The Covenant, sadly isn’t doing too hot as it opened to a soft $6M which won’t help much even with an A CinemaScore. Dramas aimed at adult audiences and regular family films without a bigger nostalgic draw have still been struggling a bit at the box office. Even after a good early push, Beau is Afraid has stumbled to $2.7M while expanding its theater count which isn’t a good sign for its $35M budget.

    Source: The Numbers, Variety, Variety

  • ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ On its Path to a Billion at the Box Office

    ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ On its Path to a Billion at the Box Office

    Nothing is seemingly stopping the Super Mario Bros. Movie from dominating theaters, as it has soared even higher in its second weekend. While mostly expected it to wrap up around $87M on Sunday by its estimates, the film has actually grown since then to a whopping $92M. That not only marks the highest-grossing second weekend for an animated film but also has become the seventh-highest at the domestic box office.

    It seems after families didn’t quite show up for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania or Shazam: Fury of the Gods, they are all in for the nostalgia of Mario. A 37% decline on a record-breaking opening is nothing to scoff at, especially after its Japanese debut hasn’t even kicked off yet in the character’s core market and China is still barely holding on as a viable market for Western releases. Normally movies always drop at least 50% but it seems the memories of playing Mario at home just are that powerful.

    As such, the film has already passed $700M after 13 days, which is only the twelfth film to do so since the pandemic ended. The question remains if it’ll dethrone last year’s Minions: The Rise of Gru which pulled in $942.5M at the box office. It’s very likely to do so and everyone is expecting the film to be the first to pass one billion this year. It might even surpass The Lion King which holds the record as the highest animated movie ever (and no it still doesn’t count as live-action). Though, the only question remains of how much is left for the others until the summer market kicks off in May.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Super Mario Bros.’ Pulls a Record-Breaking $87M in 2nd Weekend

    ‘Super Mario Bros.’ Pulls a Record-Breaking $87M in 2nd Weekend

    It looks like nostalgia remains a powerful tool for box office results. The Super Mario Bros. Movie has denied any expectations of being frontloaded and has pulled in an $87M second weekend, which is a huge hold after a powerful Easter weekend. Once again, it dethrones Frozen 2’s position at the top spot for animated films and marks Illumination’s best ever. What stands out is that this marks a drop of only 45%, the lowest we’ve probably seen in a long time for any project.

    Evil Dead Rise is on the horizon with a potential $20M+ opening weekend after moving away from HBO Max, it doesn’t look like anyone will take the top spot from Mario until the main summer season kicks off in a few weeks. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will likely push them off that top spot but the film has had no real direct family-oriented competition for some time, but it’ll be interesting to see if its main target audience is likely much older than one might expect.

    Sadly, there’s a drawback with such a dominant presence in theaters as other projects are seemingly suffering a bit and not quite pulling in the audiences they want. Normally, counterprogramming is quite effective in using an audience that isn’t drawn in by the latest blockbuster but perhaps this is a bigger showcase of what exactly the audience is behind a film based on a franchise that started in the 1980s.

    Renfield has seemingly bombed in its opening weekend at third place with a small $7.7M. 62% of the box office went to The Super Mario Bros. Movie so it and Russell Crowe’s The Pope’s Exorcist ($8.5M) had to duke it out for what is left. Though the mixed reception on both doesn’t help that isn’t uncommon with many horror films that actually play better than what the general audience reception might make you think.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Becomes 2023’s Highest-Grossing Film

    ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Becomes 2023’s Highest-Grossing Film

    Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has been dethroned as The Super Mario Bros. Movie has now become the biggest worldwide release. It’s also the first film to pass the $500M mark which is quite impressive considering it has a budget of $100M, which is quite a bit lower than Pixar or Disney’s overly ambitious $200M animated production costs. It’s currently on track to stick to the top spot in the second weekend with $58M after pulling in $9.4M on Thursday.

    Internationally, the film has pulled in around $248.4M globally and stands at a strong $260.3M domestically, which totals $508.7M. The film dropped around 63% on its second Thursday which is a strong hold and highlights the power of nostalgia and Nintendo. It seems more and more likely that this is the current winning formula as people relive their own memories and bring the family along for the ride, which is perfect for a kid’s film like The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

    Interestingly enough, the other two big releases are currently duking it out as Nicolas Cage’s Renfield and Russell Crowe’s The Pope’s Exorcist are the newest releases with very similar Thursday night releases at the domestic box office. Renfield is currently still leading the pack with $900K while Crowe’s film is behind only by $850M. The action-horror entry is currently set to overtake the other new release with a slightly better Rotten Tomatoes hinting at a better box office run.

    Source: Deadline, Deadline, The Numbers

  • No One Can Stop ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ at the Box Office

    No One Can Stop ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ at the Box Office

    Wahoo! The Super Mario Bros. Movie has gone on to beat even the earliest expectations. Initially, it was set for around $130M domestic opening before it was corrected to a $195M 5-day run. Now, the film hasn’t slowed down one bit as it pulled in enough that set it for a $205M run, which would knock Transformers: Reven of the Fallen to second place and take the record, not just as an animated film but for cinema overall.

    Overall, the Easter weekend 3-day gross would place it in third behind Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($181M) and Furious 7‘s $161M. Overseas it also pulled in $173M by the end of its run and would place it at $377.2M worldwide. Keep in mind, the film hasn’t opened in Japan, Nintendo’s core market, as of now and that could’ve pushed it to $400M if there wasn’t a delayed release.

    As such, the film stands strong as the biggest opening for an animated film ever, as it has officially dethroned Frozen 2 from that very spot. The film has pulled in the most patrons since Spider-Man: No Way Home over the 5-day weekend and it’s a good sign for 2023 that we’re seeing a more diverse performance from films, such as Creed 3 becoming the biggest opening for a sports movie.

    What makes Super Mario Bros.’ success so interesting is the fact that the film simply fought against its rather critical reception going into the weekend. Perhaps similar to Top Gun Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water, audiences are simply looking for simplicity and thrill nowadays as other franchises try to add complexity to avoid any fatigue setting in. Is this a new era of video game-based games after the success of Sonic the Hedgehog as well, or are we just seeing nostalgia dominate once again?

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ to Dehtrone ‘Frozen 2’ as the Biggest Animated Opening Ever

    ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ to Dehtrone ‘Frozen 2’ as the Biggest Animated Opening Ever

    After that initial critical reception, it seems audiences do not care at all how people viewed The Super Mario Bros. Movie as it is on its path to becoming the biggest animated opening weekend ever. Going by now, its projection is pushing the film towards an impressive $195M domestic opening but what will truly make it the biggest release yet is that it’ll probably end its global bow over a 5-day weekend at $368M.

    The title was previously held by Frozen 2, which opened globally to $358M. It’s an impressive feat for the latest Illumination film that also made quite a bang last year with its Minions sequel almost making a billion and becoming one of the year’s biggest releases. The studio’s approach to animation may not be welcomed by critics, but it certainly works for audiences.

    There’s a lot of discussion surrounding the latest performances by Disney’s animation projects with Super Mario Bros. Movie and recently Puss in Boots: The Last Wish pulling some incredible performances at the box office. While many might go the Internet’s usual route of taking information out of context, there’s a lot at play here that to some degree is Disney’s own fault.

    Dreamworks and Illumination don’t have a “streaming home” per see, which means that there’s no expectation that their projects will eventually be available. Disney, however, spent almost three years building a “streaming first” strategy which has shot their staying power at the box office with even more frontloaded box office performance and even negative critical reception having a bigger impact due to “can always watch it later.”

    Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is one of Marvel Studios’ weakest releases at $467M, which is still a number most would hope to have on their resume. With a weak Chinese market, which elevated its previous entries, and the previous streaming strategy, Disney took away any real need for its core audience, families, to watch it while it is in theaters. Same as we saw with its animated fair that does incredible numbers on Disney+. With the announcement of a digital and physical release ahead of Disney+, we’re seeing the first attempts to make up for that very issue.

    It’ll be essential to ensure their animated projects have a strong showing as families simply aren’t there and Super Mario Bros. Movie has the advantage of nostalgia with boomers and Millenials at its side. Its performance is comparable to Avatar: The Way of Water and Star Wars: The Force Awakens which are both built strongly on nostalgia. Hell, even Top Gun Maverick got that extra boost for the same reason, and we’re seeing a much more noticeable trend that studios are likely going to abuse moving forward.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter, The Number