Thanksgiving was Unkind to the Box Office

By Ben Miller

Thanksgiving weekend can usually be counted on for a big box office, but that was certainly not the case this year.  The entire box office managed just $92.9 million for the three-day weekend.  That's the lowest Thanksgiving box office weekend since 1994 (not counting 2020, obviously).  Black Panther: Wakanda Forever cruised to another easy box office win, dropping a mere 31% in it's third week of release.  The two new releases of Disney's Strange World and the war film Devotion both landed with relative thuds.  The marketing on both has been dubious at best...

Weekend Box Office (actuals) November 25th-27th 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended
WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
BLACK PANTHER WAKANDA FOREVER	GLASS ONION
1 BLACK PANTHER WAKANDA FOREVER $45.6 (cum. $367.5)	1 🔺★ GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY $9.4 *NEW* 696 screens

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What did you see this week... or are you waiting for Thanksgiving like Hollywood?

By Nathaniel R

It was a strange weekend for moviegoers. Hollywood wanted to give Black Panther 2 ample room and it's not quite thanksgiving so only two new wide releases risked opening: The Menu and She Said. The former did okay and the latter struggled. In limited release a slightly similar story but just remove a few 0s as Bones and All and The Inspection both opened on a handful of screens. In both box office skirmishes, moviegoers tended to chose the violent option. Violent thrills are really what sells movie tickets these days, with or without vfx budgets. We wish the general moviegoer had wider taste, but it is what it is...

Weekend Box Office (actuals) November 18th-20th 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended
WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
BLACK PANTHER WAKANDA FOREVER	BONES AND ALL
1 BLACK PANTHER WAKANDA FOREVER $66.4 (cum. $287.1)	1 TILL $228k (cum. $8.5) 656 screens

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Movie Stars Ruled the Weekend's Box Office

By Ben Miller

Don't let the haters tell you that movie stars don't matter.  The Dwayne Johnson led DC entry Black Adam easily won the weekend with $67 million.  That's Johnson's biggest opening for a film without the words Fast, Furious, or Mummy.  George Clooney & Julia Roberts counterprogramming rom-com Ticket to Paradise did just fine for itself with a $16.5 million opening.  Those two films expect to have some legs as there are no big openings release until Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on November 11th. And there are only 8 movies in wide release at that. The theaters need more movies...

Weekend Box Office (actuals) October 21st-23rd 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended links if we've written about it
WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
BLACK ADAM	TRIANGLE OF SADNESS
1 🔺 BLACK ADAM $67 *NEW*	1 TERRIFIER 2 $1.76 (cum. $5.1) 755 screens
2 🔺 TICKET TO PARADISE $16.5 *NEW*	2 🔺 ★ TRIANGLE OF SADNESS (sweden/uk) $601k (cum. $1.4) 280 screens

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'Till' and 'Decision to Leave' open well while 'Halloween' wins again

By Ben Miller

For the third straight week, the October box office was dominated by scares.  The final (?) installment of David Gordon Green's trilogy Halloween Ends managed a healthy $40 million haul despite incredibly mixed reactions (40% Rotten Tomatoes, C+ CinemaScore) and a day-and-date release on Peacock.  Expect a large second-week drop.  Elsewhere, well-received films continue to have legs.  Smile earned another $12+ million weekend, totaling over $70 million.  It might end up being one of the most profitable films of the year given its budget.  The Woman King is also holding steady with a total just under $60 million now.

Weekend Box Office (actuals) October 14th-16th 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended links if we've written about it
WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
HALLOWEEN ENDS	TILL
1 🔺 HALLOWEEN ENDS $40 *NEW*	1 TERRIFIER 2 $1 (cum. $2.4) 700 screens
2 SMILE $12.5 (cum. $71.3)	2 🔺 ★ TRIANGLE OF SADNESS (sweden/uk) $333k (cum. $653k) 31 screens

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What did you see over the weekend?

By Ben Miller

For the second straight week, the story of the North American box office is about failure instead of success.  While horror film Smile captured the top spot for the second straight week, David O. Russell's star-studded Amsterdam managed only $6.4 million on a reported $80 budget. Many are blaming the poor reception from critics and audiences (33% on Rotten Tomatoes, a measly B CinemaScore), but this feels like Russell's indiscretions coming back to bite him.  Meanwhile, Lyle, Lyle Crocodile, the first kid-focused film released in months, made for a solid 2nd-place showing.  

Holiday Weekend Box Office (estimates... not every film has reported yet) October 7th-10th 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended links if we've written about it
WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
SMILE	TRIANGLE OF SADNESS

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