The Box Office thread

[Epic for Springs]

I understand his point in that having the dwarfs would have been regressive when every modern Disney remake has at least tried (key word) incorporating diversity and inclusion but if you were going to cave and use dwarfs, you could have just casted seven little people and given work to those who would be unemployed otherwise.

I'm six foot one btw.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

How would casting dwarfs in a movie about dwarfs been "regressive," exactly?

 

[Epic for Springs]

Because they were given no identify other than the ailments they embodied among other things which Dinklage also mentioned. If you're going to cast a latina to portray Snow White then at least some attention should have been thrown at the dwarves angle. Again, if they abandoned their original plan of casting seven actors of various background and size and went the way of the original after so much backlash, they should have just casted seven little people.

I was one of the dwarves in a school play in 2nd grade. I think I was Bashful.

EDIT - Nope, my sister confirmed I was Sleepy.

 

[Gary]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1901787704163201303

At least one cute thing came out of all this

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Disney's Snow White made $16 Million on Friday (just over $3,800 per theater). That's slightly better than what Mufasa: The Lion King opened up at (just over $3,200 per theater) but has to be disappointing as Mufasa was also going up against Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and had incredible legs throughout its theatrical run but will still struggle to get to the 4X multiplier needed to be considered break even.

Mufasa is still in theaters 3 months later. The Little Mermaid, which bombed, did $8,800 per theater and that was released in prime summer movie going season.

Mufasa only did $16.8 Million in China (boosted more by France, UK, and Germany) whereas Little Mermaid did $3.7 Million in China. I don't know how much interest there is in Snow White in China but I have to expect this goes more LM than Mufasa.

Snow White's budget is listed at just under $270 Million not including the promotion so this'll be an interesting follow.

 

[Gary]

1	N	Disney’s Snow White	Walt Disney	$43,000,000		4,200		$10,238	$43,000,000	1
2	(2)	Black Bag	Focus Features	$4,400,000	-42%	2,713	+8	$1,622	$14,880,000	2
3	(4)	Captain America: Brave New World	Walt Disney	$4,100,000	-28%	2,900	-350	$1,414	$192,117,391	6
4	(3)	Mickey 17	Warner Bros.	$3,900,000	-48%	2,584	-1,223	$1,509	$40,222,000	3
5	(1)	Novocaine	Paramount Pi…	$3,760,000	-57%	3,369	+4	$1,116	$15,769,000	2
6	N	The Alto Knights	Warner Bros.	$3,165,000		2,651		$1,194	$3,165,000	1
7	(5)	The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie	Ketchup Ente…	$1,834,285	-42%	2,703	-124	$679	$6,456,412	15
8	(9)	The Monkey	Neon	$1,548,750	-38%	1,452	-842	$1,067	$37,862,485	5
9	(8)	Dog Man	Universal	$1,500,000	-41%	1,766	-641	$849	$95,631,000	8
10	(6)	The Last Supper	Pinnacle Peak	$1,335,000	-52%	1,575	n/c	$848	$5,325,434	2
11	(7)	Paddington in Peru	Sony Pictures	$1,300,019	-51%	1,653	-836	$786	$43,668,000	6
12	N	Locked	The Avenue E…	$964,000		971		$993	$964,000	1
13	(10)	Last Breath	Focus Features	$900,000	-61%	1,519	-1,142	$592	$20,416,000	4
14	N	Ash	RLJ Entertai…	$716,777		1,136		$631	$716,777	1
15	N	Magazine Dreams	Briarcliff E…	$700,000		815		$859	$700,000	1

-	N	Misericordia	Janus Films	$25,200		3		$8,400	$25,200	1
-	N	Being Maria	Kino Lorber	$6,270		1		$6,270	$6,270	1

"Snow White" made a little less than expected. Everything I've read about it says Rachel Ziegler is the only good thing about it. Something like "Captain America" isn't a huge hit, but it will likely make more than this in the end. Also, ouch for "Alto Knights", which cost $50 million and probably would've done better if it had been released 20 something years ago.

About two other new releases-"Ash" is from Shudder, and is the latest movie directed by musician Flying Lotus (his prior film "Kuso" is...not an easy viewing experience). "Magazine Dreams" premiered in Sundance last year to good reviews and stars Jonathan Majors-then it turned out he's an abusive piece of shit and it got delayed.

 

[Brocklock]

Mufasa had the Holiday legs going for it too. A lot of the movies that open in the last 3 weeks of the year or so receive a boost and can have great runs despite meh openings like Mufasa did or Wonka in 2023. And, the general audience is much more into either of those movies than Snow White. Snow White has a 74% audience score which is pretty low for the Disney live action remakes. Little Mermaid has a 94% audience score, The Lion King has a 88% audience score, and Cruella a 97% audience score for comparison.

I can see Snow White dropping like 65 to 70% next week. It feels like Joker 2/ The Marvels levels of rejection. Easter/Spring Break could help it hold on for an okay run, but I doubt it. I'd be surprised if it makes 90 million domestic, but we'll see what happens.

Disney will be okay and their remakes will probably keep going cause I got a feeling this Lilo And Stitch live action remake is gonna make bank.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Worth noting how many theaters were quick to dump Mickey 17, which makes me think it'll hit streaming very quickly.

 

[Brocklock]

Worth noting how many theaters were quick to dump Mickey 17, which makes me think it'll hit streaming very quickly.

It's out on digital April 8th. Max will probably have it on by May.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

It's crazy that Black Bag had a $60 Million budget and companies wonder why it's so hard to make profit off movies even with the jacked up ticket/concession prices.

Also things like Mickey 17 getting thrown onto streaming so quickly after it struggles doesn't help the average theater-goer want to see such movies when they can wait 1-3 months just to see it on streaming at home for essentially the cost of a movie ticket that covers a whole month. This is where I do have to give Disney credit as they keep their movies in theaters for multiple months even if the movie initially struggles to try and wring every last dollar out (See Captain America: Brave New World which is still in 2900 theaters after almost 2 months of release).

I think in a lot of ways, these companies both want to put the genie back in the bottle & fucked themselves over doing all of these streaming services: AppleTV+, Paramount+, MAX, Disney+, etc. because they need streaming content to get the monthly $$ but also want people to go to the theaters to see all of these movies that people know are just going to land on these streaming services in 2-6 months anyway that they are already paying for so why double dip.

 

[Epic for Springs]

I'm looking forward to Mickey 17 on streaming but my trips to the theater are very limited these days so I guess I'm part of the problem. I'm making an effort to see Death of a Unicorn this weekend though.

 

[Brocklock]

I should be hyped for Mickey 17 because Bong is one of the best directors working today, but I do think his American films are more goofy and pulpy than his Korean films like Parasite, Memories Of Murder, Mother etc. His American films are supposed to be odd and eccentric and campy, and feel a lot different than his Korean work. The trailers and promotion haven't grabbed me and feels similar to something like Okja which I didn't really care for.

Speaking of Bong, he announced at a screening of The Thing with John Carpenter last night that he's doing a Horror Movie (In South Korea) next and Carpenter agreed to score the movie. Probably won't light up the box office, but I'm ecstatic to watch that.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Looks like Snow White couldn't even crack $43 Million as it looks like it only made $42,206,415 for the weekend.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Princess Mononoke is getting re(?)-released in theaters and made $1.2 Million in previews (about $100K more than A Working Man which is expected to open around $10+ Million). This'll be a really interesting release as anime's done solid at the box office and its one of the most iconic movies out there. There's also a lot of talk about Studio Ghibli & AI controversy in the news which could spark some interest.

 

[Gary]

1	N	A Working Man	Amazon MGM S…	$15,215,874		3,262		$4,665	$15,215,874	1
2	(1)	Disney’s Snow White	Walt Disney	$14,200,000	-66%	4,200	n/c	$3,381	$66,814,583	2
3	N	The Chosen: Last Supper — Part 1	Fathom Events	$11,492,369		2,235		$5,142	$11,492,369	1
4	N	The Woman in the Yard	Universal	$9,450,000		2,842		$3,325	$9,450,000	1
5	N	Death of a Unicorn	A24	$5,787,425		3,050		$1,898	$5,787,425	1
6	(-)	Princess Mononoke	Miramax	$4,004,482		330		$12,135	$14,904,482	1,327
7	(3)	Captain America: Brave New World	Walt Disney	$2,800,000	-30%	2,380	-520	$1,176	$196,555,268	7
8	(2)	Black Bag	Focus Features	$2,150,000	-50%	2,065	-648	$1,041	$18,707,000	3
9	(5)	Mickey 17	Warner Bros.	$1,920,000	-48%	1,648	-936	$1,165	$43,585,000	4
10	(4)	Novocaine	Paramount Pi…	$1,450,000	-61%	2,273	-1,096	$638	$18,784,000	3
11	N	L2: Empuraan		$1,270,000		600		$2,117	$2,210,556	1
12	N	The Penguin Lessons	Sony Picture…	$1,115,000		1,017		$1,096	$1,115,000	1

-	N	The Ballad of Wallis Island	Focus Features	$92,000		4		$23,000	$92,000	1
-	N	The Encampments	Watermelon P…	$76,419		1		$76,419	$76,419	1
-	N	The Friend	Bleecker Street	$66,853		2		$33,427	$66,853	1

-

N

Thank You Very Much

Drafthouse F…

$17,104

29

$590

$17,104

1

-

N

Janis Ian: Breaking Silence

Greenwich

$9,000

2

$4,500

$9,000

1

Ouch for "Snow White". Good for "Princess Mononoke" though.

Next week is "A Minecraft Movie". The week after is "Drop" and "Warfare". The 18th is "Sinners" (that looks good), an animated kids movie called "Sneaks" and anime in "Colorful Stage: The Movie". Finally, the 25th we get "Until Dawn" and "The Legend of Ochi". Upcoming Fathom/Iconic events screenings and re-releases are

-"Screamboat" (April 2nd)
-"Vampire Hunter D" (April 9th)
-"Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii" (April 24th)
-"Revenge of the Sith" (April 25th)

 

[HarleyQuinn]

I'm kind of surprised The Woman In the Yard did as well as it did but there's always an appetite for decent looking horror movies especially in the February/March area in between the blockbuster releases of Christmas Season/May.

Woof at Snow White, Mickey 17, and Captain America though. Further proof that Hollywood's CEOs need to realize they aren't going to get away with 2016-2019 budgets and have China to bail them out if the movies struggle domestically (especially as China is moving harder towards their own self-made releases, which good for them).

Great for Princess Mononoke as it almost doubled its 1999 release box office. I know AMC does Studio Ghibli releases for its Fathom Events but still nice to see it get a decent chunk for such a small window release of just 300+ theaters.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Looks like A Minecraft Movie is gonna do big this week with a great audience score vs. a low/mixed critic score (very SMB Movie).

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Looks like A Minecraft Movie is gonna do big this week with a great audience score vs. a low/mixed critic score (very SMB Movie).

MASSIVE numbers, which I'm sure the box office is loving even if the snobby critics don't like the movie because it's too simple/no depth, etc. The critics whining about "dumbed down" kids movies/kids movies that aren't also appealing to adults always cite the same like 5-8 movies from the 80s (and maybe the 90s) ignoring if they were actually marketed to kids. Stuff like Indiana Jones if you re-watch the trailers are clearly marketed as Swashbuckling "Action Adventure" movies more for adults.

Got to $118 Million just on Friday & Saturday alone and looking at getting over $150 Million for the weekend basically making its budget back alone domestically in its 1st Weekend.

 

[Gary]

1	N	A Minecraft Movie	Warner Bros.	$157,000,000		4,263		$36,829	$157,000,000	1
2	(1)	A Working Man	Amazon MGM S…	$7,276,905	-53%	3,262	n/c	$2,231	$27,817,000	2
3	N	The Chosen: Last Supper — Part 2	Fathom Events	$6,701,939		2,296		$2,919	$6,701,939	1
4	(2)	Disney’s Snow White	Walt Disney	$6,087,000	-58%	3,750	-450	$1,623	$77,462,470	3
5	(4)	The Woman in the Yard	Universal	$4,500,000	-52%	2,845	+3	$1,582	$16,667,000	2
6	(5)	Death of a Unicorn	A24	$2,696,929	-53%	2,995	-55	$900	$10,783,272	2
7	(3)	The Chosen: Last Supper — Part 1	Fathom Events	$1,868,870	-84%	1,591	-887	$1,175	$17,915,708	2
8	N	Hell of a Summer	Neon	$1,750,000		1,255		$1,394	$1,750,000	1
9	(-)	The Friend	Bleecker Street	$1,617,415	+2,292%	1,237	+1,235	$1,308	$1,696,365	2
10	(7)	Captain America: Brave New World	Walt Disney	$1,393,000	-52%	1,750	-630	$796	$199,120,479	8

-

N

The Luckiest Man in America

IFC Films

$282,000

659

$428

$282,000

1

-

N

A Nice Indian Boy

Blue Harbor

$176,000

81

$2,173

$176,000

1

N

Gazer

Metrograph P…

$13,900

1

$13,900

$13,900

1

-

N

When Fall is Coming

Music Box Films

$6,000

1

$6,000

$6,000

1

"A Working Man", "The Woman in the Yard" and "Death of a Unicorn" didn't suffer big number drops. "Hell of a Summer" is a slasher comedy that's also the directorial debut of Finn Wolfhard in case any is wondering what that is.

Next week is "Warfare", "King of Kings", "Drop" (which looks like an enjoyable thriller) and "The Amateur" (which I recently found out is a remake of a movie I didn't know existed beforehand). The Iconic Events/Aniplex event movie of the week is "Vampire Hunter D".

 

[HarleyQuinn]

A Minecraft Movie ended up way outperforming even the projections, finishing at a crazy $163 Million ($313.7 Million worldwide). Disney's Snow White is now sitting at a very disappointing $77.316 Million domestically after 3 weekends. A Working Man is holding its own at $53 Million globally.

Hell of a Summer opened up at $1.765 Million (solid for a $3 Million budget!). Interestingly, Princess Mononoke actually added 300 theaters but only made $674K likely missing the window it had last week in large part thanks to AMM obliterating everything in its path.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Dan Murrell did a great breakdown on Youtube how China has dropped from being 12-15% of the box office gross for American movies in the 2018-2021 window down to 7% in 2022 & 2023 before dipping even more to 5% last year.

This is going to be an interesting story to follow as China continues to emphasize their own domestic films in general and have less reliance on American films to "prop up" their own box office profits overall. It could turn into a case where China realizes Hollywood "needs them" more than the flip side and Hollywood (maybe?) starts to counter by lowering budgets and trying to re-emphasize domestic profitability over global.

China to Reduce Imports of Hollywood Films as Trade War Escalates

The China Film Administration said it would "moderately reduce" the number of American films the country imports in response to Donald Trump's tariffs.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

"Under the most recent trade agreements, China committed to releasing 34 foreign films per year under revenue-share terms, with overseas studios permitted to a 25 percent share of ticket sales."

Here's how a lot of the "big" American blockbusters did in China last year. A lot of solid numbers but nothing truly astonishing outside of 2 properties that are well known to be massive in China (alongside franchises like The Fast & Furious). It's going to be interesting if China basically ignores some of the Disney properties coming or even some of the Marvel movies. Seeing the numbers for Moana 2 & Mufasa really surprised me as I thought they'd be a lot higher.

Godzilla x Kong New Empire: $134.28 Million (Basically $60 Million less than it did domestically!)
Venom The Last Dance: $94.601 Million
Deadpool & Wolverine: $59.694 Million
Despicable Me 4: $58.738 Million
Kung Fu Panda 4: $52.434 Million
Dune Part Two: $48.674 Million
Inside Out 2: $47.399 Million
Transformers One: $20.971 Million
A Quiet Place Day One: $18.208 Million
Mufasa The Lion King: $16.871 Million
The Beekeeper: $15.744 Million
Moana 2: $15.13 Million
Bad Boys Ride or Die: $5.049 Million
Twisters: $2.877 Million
Wicked: $2.117 Million

 

[Gary]

Busy day today (my birthday and all) so here ya go

1	1	A Minecraft Movie	$80,600,000	-50.5%	4,289	+26	$18,792	$280,961,733	2	Warner Bros.
2	-	The King of Kings	$19,050,397	-	3,200	-	$5,953	$19,050,397	1	Angel Studios
3	-	The Amateur	$15,000,000	-	3,400	-	$4,411	$15,000,000	1	20th Century Studios
4	-	Warfare	$8,301,565	-	2,670	-	$3,109	$8,301,565	1	A24
5	-	Drop	$7,500,000	-	3,085	-	$2,431	$7,500,000	1	Universal Pictures International (UPI)
6	-	The Chosen: Last Supper Part 3	$5,815,117	-	2,296	-	$2,532	$5,815,117	1	-
7	2	A Working Man	$3,060,987	-58.3%	2,672	-590	$1,145	$33,522,179	3	Amazon MGM Studios
8	4	Snow White	$2,800,000	-52.9%	2,540	-1,210	$1,102	$81,920,880	4	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
9	5	The Woman in the Yard	$2,100,000	-53.5%	2,134	-711	$984	$20,352,860	3	Universal Pictures
10	3	The Chosen: Last Supper Part 2	$931,684	-86.6%	672	-1,641	$1,386	$10,956,398	2	-

17

-

Sacramento

$314,000

-

241

-

$1,302

$314,000

1

Vertical Entertainment

27

-

The Teacher

$20,032

-

1

-

$20,032

$20,032

1

Watermelon Pictures