The North American field workplace had certainly one of its slowest weekends of the yr, due largely to “Dune: Part Two’s” absence from the lineup.
Moviegoers had many different choices to select from. The online game adaptation “Five Nights at Freddy’s” repeated its first-place rating, adopted by “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” nonetheless going sturdy. Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla ” expanded nationwide and “Oppenheimer” returned to IMAX screens. A number of well-received indies opened as nicely.
However this was the weekend that Warner Bros. and Legendary’s “ Dune: Part Two” was presupposed to open, earlier than the SAG-AFTRA strike prompted many studios to shuffle launch dates in anticipation of a prolonged dispute that has stopped film stars from selling their movies. The “Dune” sequel starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya was pushed to March 2024, and no main blockbusters moved in to take its Nov. 3 spot.
Even with “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” nonetheless bringing Swifties to the multiplex, and status choices together with Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers,” overall ticket sales are likely to be around $64 million for the weekend, making it one of the slowest of the year.
“It’s hard to reverse engineer, but ‘Dune 2’ would have certainly been the No. 1 movie and it would have been a bigger overall weekend,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “The strikes have had a profound impact on this marketplace. But this left a lot of opportunity for films like ‘Priscilla,’ ‘The Holdovers’ and ‘Radical’ to get more of a spotlight.”
In its second weekend, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” picked up an additional $19.4 million to take first place, according to studio estimates Sunday. It’s a hefty 76% drop from its first weekend. That’s not unexpected given that the movie is also streaming on Peacock and that viewership for films targeting intense and niche fandoms are often wildly frontloaded. But taking in $217 million globally against a reported $20 million production budget makes it a hit for Universal Pictures and Blumhouse.
“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” took second place, with fourth weekend earnings at an estimated $13.5 million for the AMC release. Playing only on Thursdays through Sundays, the film has made an astonishing $231.1 million globally to date.
In third place, “Killers of the Flower Moon” was down solely 25% in its third weekend, with $7 million from 3,786 screens, which brings its home whole to $52.3 million. The $200 million movie was financed by Apple Authentic Movies with Paramount overseeing its theatrical run.
After a wholesome opening in New York and Los Angeles final weekend, “Priscilla,” primarily based on Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir “Elvis and Me,” expanded to 1,359 screens the place it earned $5.1 million over the weekend to take fourth place. Coppola’s nicely reviewed movie starring Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi attracted an viewers that was predominately youthful (75% underneath 35) and feminine (65%). The hope is that A24 launch may have an extended life into awards season.
“ The Holdovers,” a Focus Options launch, additionally expanded barely to 64 theaters this weekend, the place it grossed an extra $600,000. Subsequent weekend the New England-set interval drama starring Paul Giamatti as a curmudgeonly prep college trainer will develop to over 800 places.
A handful of smaller movies made their theatrical debuts this weekend, together with Meg Ryan’s “What Happens Later,” launched by Bleecker Road; and Sundance gems “ Radical ” and “ All Filth Roads Style of Salt.”
The biggest of the batch was “ Radical,” which is based on a true story about a teacher in a Mexican border city and stars Eugenio Derbez. The warmly reviewed Pantelion release opened in 419 locations and made $2.7 million.
“’Radical’ is a big winner this weekend and a big win for Eugenio Derbez,” Dergarabedian said. “He’s becoming a global superstar.”
“What Happens Later,” a rom-com starring Ryan and David Duchovny as exes stuck in an airport, made $1.6 million from 1,492 screens. Raven Jackson’s “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt,” meanwhile, opened on three screens and earned $12,529, according to A24.
“The general field workplace is fairly quiet, however there are such a lot of attention-grabbing movies on the market,” Dergarabedian said. “Independent film can really shine right now.”
The effects of the ongoing strike at the box office are not easily quantifiable. Up to this point, it’s mainly meant that stars without interim agreements haven’t been able to promote their films. “Priscilla” was one of the exceptions and Elordi and Spaeny have been able to do interviews and appear on talk shows to drum up awareness.
Next weekend will be an interesting test, as Marvel and Disney release “The Marvels” without months of appearances from stars like Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris and Lashana Lynch preceding it. It is possible a resolution between the actors’ guild and the major entertainment companies may come this week, but it’s unclear if that will have any impact on “The Marvels.”
“All eyes will be on ‘The Marvels,’ not only what it represents during the strikes, but what it means for Marvel as a whole, which is always compared to their past successes,” Dergarabedian said. “But the opening weekend isn’t everything anymore. Hopefully it’ll provide an infusion of that blockbuster feeling going into the holiday season.”
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” $19.4 million.
2. “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” $13.5 million.
3. “Killers of the Flower Moon,” $7 million.
4. “Priscilla,” $5.1 million.
5. “Radical,” $2.7 million.
6. “The Exorcist: Believer,” $2.2 million.
7. “After Death,” $2 million.
8. “Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie,” $2 million.
9. “What Happens Later,” $1.6 million.
10. “Freelance,” $1.3 million.
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