Busting Ghosts and ignoring King Richard
Monday, November 22, 2021 at 3:30PM What did you see this past week/weekend? Will Smith's bankability was yet another victim of Warner Bros decision to release all their movies day and date on HBOMax this year. Without the visual effects spectacle audiences crave, King Richard was one of the superstar's smallest openings despite being a crowdpleaser. Alas, minus the crowds.
| Weekend Box Office November 5th-7th 🔺 = new or expanding | ★ = recommended |
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| 1-5 | 6-10 |
 GHOSTBUSTERS AFTERLIFE |
 BELFAST |
| 1 GHOSTBUSTERS AFTERLIFE 🔺 $44 |
6 VENOM LET THERE BE CARNAGE 🔺$2.8 (cum. $206.5) |
| 2 ETERNALS $10.8 (cum. $135.8) Nathaniel's Review | 7 NO TIME TO DIE $2.7 (cum. $154.6) Deborah's Review |
| 3 CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG $8.1 (cum. $33.5) | 8 THE FRENCH DISPATCH 🔺$970k (cum. $13.2) Elisa's Review |
| 4 KING RICHARD ★🔺 $5.7 Christopher's Review, Nathaniel's Review | 9 BELFAST ★ $940k (cum. $3.4) Nathaniel's Review |
|
5 DUNE ★ $3 (cum. $98.1) Elisa's Review |
10 RON'S GONE WRONG $888k (cum. $22) |
More box office notes after the jump...
French Dispatch continues to be a specialty holding fairly well in its 5th week in theaters despite losing a lot of theaters.
In other news C'mon C'mon (reviewed) was greeted quite warmly in its first weekend in limited release (5 theaters) with the weekend's best per screen average. It earned $134k total.
Spencer (reviewed) crossed $6 million after 3 weeks in theaters. Given its high profile that's not particularly good. Consider that Belfast has already earned more than half of that in just two weeks with far less mainstream awareness. On the other hand it's not quite embarrassing in today's box office climate either, when virtually every movie is making half of what it might have made pre-pandemic.
Finally Power of the Dog (reviewed) also hit theaters but Netflix never reports numbers so we have no idea how it did. It starts streaming on December 1st so we imagine most potential fans are waiting to see it at home, despite the big screen beauty of the western genre (and this movie in particular).
Dune has just left HBOMax so it'll be interesting to see if it gets a small boost for Thanksgiving week when it's no longer available at home. The domestic box office has been decent but underwhelming for this kind of thing. It's currently the 11th highest grossing film of the year in the US, just behind Godzilla vs Kong.
Thanksgiving Weekend is next. The animated musical Encanto, the all star crime drama House of Gucci, the latest Resident Evil sequel, A24's The Humans, and Japan's Oscar submission Drive My Car (reviewed) all open on Wednesday. They're followed on Friday by Paul Thomas Anderson's romantic comedy Licorice Pizza.
Ghostbusters, King Richard, Will Smith, box office
Reader Comments (11)
Black Widow
Enchanted
The Worst Person in the World
The Tragedy of Macbeth
tick, tick...BOOM!
The Card Counter
Someone's using his Disney+ trial subscription and attending as many screenings as possible...
Most enjoyed: tick, tick...BOOM!
Most admired: The Tragedy of Macbeth
Letdown: The Tragedy of Macbeth
Best Q&Aers: Andrew Garfield with Laura Dern; Oscar Isaac
Cyrano tonight
I've got to wonder how the poor box office showing effects Smith's chances? Warner/HBOMax has had several things open quite well, and they've explained that high box office and high streaming viewership go hand in hand. It seems like there wasn't much interest in this film from general audiences. I think he's safe for the nomination no matter what, but that box office looks terrible.
Maybe Will Smith just isn't as bankable in old age. And more likely, Richard Williams is even less likeable than him.
@ Joe G
The only films that have opened well by Warner Bros is Godzilla Vs Kong and Dune. Both are epic, visual spectacles compared to an intimate, small scale film like King Richard.
It’s hard for me believe this will factor into his chances because nearly all of the Oscar contenders will be on the low end of the box office. It certainly helps to star in a hit movie but most of the films are underperforming (e.g. Belfast, Spencer, all of the Netflix films) so everyone is in the same boat.
it was airplane movie time! Caught up with Raya and the Last Dragon, My Name Is Pauli Murray, and Snake Eyes.
Also filled a major gap in my 21st Century Oscar viewing with Ray. Didn't love it and was right to be reluctant in watching it back in the day. It was just okay for my taste.
Saw Spencer and The Power of the Dog so I feel like a pundit.
I saw The Eternals and liked it.
I enjoyed the time hopping sequences since I had just finished reading a dozen books in the Jodi Taylor “Chronicles Of St. Mary’s” series about time travelling historians, so I was primed for that kind of thing, and could have seen more.
And what a fabulous cast!
Sometimes I feel in Marvel movies that the actors are fighting for space and screen time, so every time they get a few character development lines, they invest them with great importance, hoping those lines won’t be cut. The effect can be a little bombastic.
But in The Eternals (like in Dune) the actors seemed at ease with themselves, trusting their director. Happy sets where things run smoothly and workers are respected and their artistry appreciated, give a movie a kind of internal glow.
I saw tick, tick... BOOM! and loved it, saw King Richard and liked it. I'd be happy if both get awards attention.
I saw Belfast and thought it mediocre at best. Branagh definitely saw Roma and wanted to make his own version, but he's just not a capable enough filmmaker to marry his attempts at whimsy with profundity. If this wins Best Picture, it will be the worst winner we've had in a long time (Green Book was at least entertaining, whereas this made me want to check my phone for time every 5 minutes).
I saw Belfast and thought it was "meh" It is ok but no where near as compelling as some have said. Seeing No Time to Die tonight.
I loved Tick, Tick...Boom! and am shocked that it's my favourite film musical of the year. Really clever in how it blends the production, his life, and the original 'rock monologue' settings of its initial performance. I went into rapturous convulsions during the diner scene (especially at THAT cameo) and probably annoyed everyone in the theatre. Vanessa Hudgens is so fun in it - she doesn't necessarily have any character beats, but she's just there to have a good time and do some light musical comedy.
I didn't like King Richard - sports biopics have to do a lot to win me over anyway, but I found it very generic and poorly paced. I also didn't like the Will Smith performance and would have loved more time with Demi, Saniyya, and Aunjanue.
Belfast is fine. The style is forced and all over the place and the black and white is shoddy. The performances are lovely and it is charming.
The masterpiece of the week was obviously The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star. I want one of these every year. A delight.
I wonder if THE FRENCH DISPATCH will wind up in the Best Picture list because:
1) there are 10 nominees so more slots to fill and it's likely to get some craft nods too
2) more people will have seen it, even if no one seems super-enthusiastic about it
3) it has more mainstream appeal than films like SPENCER (I'm guessing here - neither film has opened in Austraila yet).