What did you see over the weekend?
Monday, February 14, 2022 at 7:27PM by Nathaniel R
| Weekend Box Office February 11th-13th 🔺 = new or expanding |
|
| OVER 800 SCREENS | UNDER 800 SCREENS |
 DEATH ON THE NILE |
 WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD |
| 1 🔺 DEATH ON THE NILE $12.8 |
1 🔺 WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD $255k (cum. $451k) |
| 2 JACKASS FOREVER $8 (cum. $37.4) | 2 WEST SIDE STORY $235k (cum. $37.2) |
| 3 🔺 MARRY ME $8 new | 3 🔺 DRIVE MY CAR $192k (cum. $1.2) |
| 4 SPIDER-MAN NO WAY HOME $7.1 (cum. $759) | 4 WOLF AND THE LION $181k (cum. $1.0) |
|
5 BLACKLIGHT $3.6 new |
5 PARALLEL MOTHERS $163k (cum. $1.5) |
| 6 SING 2 $2.9 (cum. $143.3) | 6.ENCANTO $124k (cum. $94.3) |
| 7 MOONFALL $2.8 (cum. $15.1) | 7 THE 355 $100k (cum. $14.4) |
| 8 SCREAM $2.8 (cum. $73.1) | 8 NIGHTMARE ALLEY $85 (cum. $11) |
| 9 🔺 LICORICE PIZZA $922k (cum. $13.9) | 9 HOUSE OF GUCCI $71k (cum. $53.6) |
| 10 THE KINGS MAN $433k (cum. $36.7) | 10 WHO WE ARE: A CHRONICLE OF RACISM $15k (cum. $145k) |
All star mystery Death on the Nile struggled in relation to its predecessor Murder on the Orient Express on its opening weekend and the new romantic comedy Marry Me also didn't light the world on fire. But while Jackass Forever took a typical big dip on weekend two it's still been a success. Belfast and Licorice Pizza were the Best Picture nominees that tried hardest to capitalize on their new Oscar nominations by adding hundreds or even a thousand screens but Belfast didn't manage to make the top ten...
It sits at $7.9 domestic gross. While a reliable crowdpleaser at festivals it never quite broke out with traditional moviegoers though $8 million isn't terrible for a prestige picture in the terrible box office climate post-COVID...
Meanwhile in limited release, freshly Oscar-nominated Worst Person in the World had the weekend's best per-screen average. It's already one of the biggest Norwegian hits ever at the US box office (they usually top out around $100-200k. Norway's last Oscar nominee was 10 years ago with Kon-Tiki (based on a very famous story) and it managed $1.5 million in its run (in a healthier time for arthouse fare). Still, nearly half a million in just two weeks for a Norwegian film without bankable stars is mighty impressive. In fact it will surpass the domestic gross of Joachim Trier's dazzling debut Reprise ($554k in the US in 2008) pretty soon. Hopefully it will have legs.
Speaking of legs though Drive My Car has been building and adding screens, they're cutting it off just as it is taking off! It was up 91% this weekend (!!!) but it'll be on HBOMax beginning March 2nd so unfortunately we won't be able to see how far they could have taken it. Still $1.2 million domestic (when arthouse audiences really haven't come back to regular moviegoing) and the 2nd biggest release of all time for a tiny distributor is amazing.
So the Oscar nominations helped the two highest profile international feature nominees build awareness but didn't do much for any of the other films. Parallel Mothers even lost half of its screens (though its gross percentage didn't drop much meaning the Oscar nominations helped a little.)
Reader Comments (18)
All I saw this weekend was On the Rocks (incredible film by Sofia), the short film Affairs of the Art, and making-of Assembled doc series on Hawkeye.
Belfast & The Tender Bar: I actually liked Daniel Ranieri's performance more than Jude Hill's. (Affleck and Rabe seemed to get younger as the film progressed.) Branagh's film was fine—not meh, but not wow either. There was enough about it that I disliked that I would be less than thrilled if it won BP.
Dopesick: started it, like it.
King Richard: started it, had to pause it after ten minutes of Oscar-baity lead acting. Will try again, maybe after a few drinks.
I FINALLY saw The Worst Person in the World. It's a little too long, and I found myself squirming by the end. But gosh, I love a well-written ORIGINAL screenplay. And Renate Reinsve is an absolutely fantastic actress.
Just saw WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD last night and it was outstanding and way too relatable lol
POTD for a 3rd time,appreciated Kirsten more than the first time,now I hope she gets the Oscar.
Nightmare Alley entertaining but it drags until Cate kicks everything into motion and the last scene is excellent,really enjoyed Jenkins and Strathairn to.
Wild WIld Country 6 hour Doc about the Oregon Rajneesh Situation for m the early 80's,a must watch.
The Privelege German Cult movie the 1st crazy horror of the year.
POWER OF THE DOG showed up at a theater in my town and, since I liked it so much on Netflix, I took my partner to the theater (he hadn't seen it yet.) It's still great on a second viewing and the big screen shows why it could totally take the cinematography Oscar in addition to the ones its favored to win.
We also went to DEATH ON THE NILE. As Pauline Kael would have said, "great trash. Great fun." Also great on a big screen.
Would be nice is some of the foreign films showed up. We got LAMB and PARASITE, but subtitled films are a real rarity around here.
Suspense and intrigue with Hercules Poirot on board a cruise in Egypt . This is is a fine episode , as the flick will appeal to mystery lovers and Agatha Christie-Poirot novels buffs .The set design and costumes are riveting , the tale is magnificently set by that time . io games
BEING THE RICARDOS. I've enjoyed it. Not only loving cinema, but working on it I love a movie about the behind the scenes of this work. As European I didn't knew Lucy so much. I've found it as usual a Sorkin well written material and entertaining. I was so curious that I've watched some episodes of I lvoe Lucy later. And I'm sorry but Kidman is very good and technical on a high level when she plays Lucille, but her Lucy is not even a bad impression. Simmons and Ariana were my favorite. Vote B
THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE. OK... A lot of people came for Don't look up, but we wanna talk about this? This is razzie worthy material on every level. This is one of the most mediocre things I've ever seen. Again as European I knew Tammy Faye only for Ginger Minj's snatch game on Drag Race. I don't know how this woman should be considered but the movie make her look like stupid for me. And also her husband. The movie hasn't any structure or psychological exploration of the characters. And that ending with the US flag. LOL. Cherry Jones was the only good thing in this... I don't want to say mess, because is even worse. Vote F
Compartment n 6. Lovely, beautiful, restoring. A simple story, two good actors. Vote B+
I saw The Tragedy Of Macbeth in a theatre (such an appreciated pleasure). I thought I would probably like it, but I LOVED it.
It made me feel like I had been living in a country speaking my second language with a vocabulary of 300 words, and suddenly I was home, where people were speaking my native language.
DEATH ON THE NILE - had a blast with friends, we brought champagne into the theatre for Gal Gadot's big moment. I do think Kenneth Branagh fundamentally misunderstands Poirot and Christie (the mustache origin is a disaster) and he has no idea how to structure a whodunnit. There's no build of the mystery in these 2 films - he just throws a bunch of clues at you haphazardly and gives you a solution.
THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD - this is as wonderful as everyone has been saying.
Been watching some classics on the criterion channel. The Sirk collection is a dream come true. But, the best thing I've seen here recently was WILD RIVER. Such a complex story and powerful performances. I feel every couple months I see another Montgomery Clift film for the first time and am blown away by him all over again.
I streamed Marry Me on Peacock and KIMI on HBO Max. Marry Me was fun, but KIMI was a real surprise, probably my favorite recent Soderbergh movie. I loved the way it realistically presented the way we live now, post-pandemic, but it managed to not center around the pandemic. And it was a fun, involving thriller besides!
I am puzzled and I have a question.
I actually bought a ticket to see Nightmare Alley, nominated for Best Production Design. I kept seeing the ads and trailers with its gorgeous supersaturated colour, and thought yes, I can look at that for 3 hours, even if I am not very interested in the story.
But when I got to the theatre I stopped still at the stark black and white poster, and asked, is this the black and white version? Yes. All the colour showings have been pulled. Only black and white is available in the theatres.
Is the colour version still available in streaming?
I felt like this was a “bait and switch”.
So, is the nomination for the colour version or the B&W version? It seemed like it was for the colour version (no longer available?)
So I saw something else. I’m fine with B&W, I saw C’mon C’mon, Passing, Belfast, Macbeth, and liked them all. But I felt this was like a peremptory command to not look at the colour, look at the story.
@ chasm301
Wild River is lovely. I rewatched it not too long ago and it held up beautifully. I’ve seen 16 out of 17 Clift films (story for another time) and WR is my favorite after the classic three (A Place in the Sun, Red River, From Here to Eternity).
We saw Nightmare Alley: Enticing, thrilling first 40 or so minutes, long, draggy, dull, poorly explicated middle section, STELLAR last 5 minutes.
The local drive-in, the only one left in Adelaide, is closing down at the end of the month. I went for one last time, to see BEYOND THE WASTELAND, a documentary about MAD MAX enthusiasts. Good movie, combined with a bit of nostalgia.
Also finally got around to HOUSE OF GUCCI - liked it more than I thought I would, Gaga is really good in her role but, yes, Leto is embarrassing. Also did SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (not bad, but the "we created the thingamyjisg, to cure everybody" lazy writing wrecked it a little for me), THE CARD COUNTER (why, oh why wasn't Oscar Isaac more in the Oscar conversation thsi year?!?) and THE GREAT ESCAPE for the first time, and on the big screen (SPOILER somehow I had gotten the impression over the decades that the film ended with McQueen jumping over the fence on the motorbike. Really good movie though.)
I saw Marry Me which was mostly enjoyable. While not a great Hustlers follow-up for J.Lo, she and Wilson have a ton of charisma and this feels like it will be an easy hit for both them given the valentine's day timing and streaming nature. Honestly, it was just great to see two stars so comfortably use their star power.
I also saw Kitty Foyle and the Letter. I didn't love either, but Davis is great in the Letter. Ginger Rogers isn't my favorite and especially not in Foyle mode, but she brings so much spunk to her role that it's obvious why she won her Oscar.
Saw WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD and it was completely my jam.
And yeah it's too bad they've cutting DRIVE MY CAR's theatrical run, but I think the goal now for a lot of these art-house films nominated for Oscars is to make it AS EASY as possible for Oscar voters and its target audience to see the movie. The latter is especially not too comfortable going back to theaters just yet (will they ever? I hope so).
I saw Drive my Car and In Cold Blood and I think both movies are solid masterpieces. However, I do have lingering reservations about In Cold Blood, especially regarding the production and the people involved.