Box Office: 'Heart Eyes' Tops Soft Pre-Super Bowl Friday as 'Ne Zha 2' (In China) Soars Past 'Force Awakens' (In America)
A miserable "big game" weekend to be sure, but the movies are out there for the viewing even if audiences are... voting with their wallets.
Yes, this Super Bowl weekend is projected to total around $58 million overall. This figure represents a 51% increase from last year’s $39 million Big Game weekend, yet it remains an objectively disappointing total. For comparison, Super Bowl weekend in 2020 raked in $83 million, thanks to Bad Boys for Life and even massive flops like Dolittle, which nevertheless generated $250 million in total global revenue—something theaters today would kill for. However, there’s some good news when comparing then to now. Blake Lively’s The Rhythm Section recorded one of the worst openings ever for a wide release, while Oz Perkins’ Gretel and Hansel debuted with just $6.1 million. I’m… reasonably sure that their next big films opened larger and had Longer Legs…?
Studios are releasing a range of unique and relatively original theatrical offerings, many of which are quite good. One of Them Days is a fantastic, timely comedy. Den of Thieves 2 is better than its predecessor. Companion and Heart Eyes are both intelligent and crowd-pleasing genre hybrids. Most of these films (including Flight Risk) are generating theatrical revenue at least sufficient for relative success. However, in a world where audiences typically only show up in large numbers for the biggest movies, exhibition is waiting for the MCU action sequel to deadlift the quarter. So, yes, under these circumstances, I’m inclined to blame the audience for not showing up for, at least in numbers comparable to a generation ago, what they claim to want.