Photo: The Canadian Press
This image, published by Lionsgate, shows Nicholas Cage as himself in a scene from The Unbearable Weight of Great Talent. (Catalin Vermes / Lionsgate via AP)
On an unusually crowded weekend at a movie theater featuring an expensive Viking epic and Nicholas Cage playing himself, DreamWorks Animation’s “Bad Boys” crossed the field, signaling a continuing resurgence of family cinema after a pandemic downturn.
The Bad Guys, released by Universal Pictures, debuted with $ 24 million in ticket sales in the United States and Canada, according to studio estimates on Sunday. This came despite strong competition for families from Paramount Pictures’ Sonic The Hedgehog 2, which came in second with $ 15.2 million in its third week of release. So far, it has raised $ 145.8 million in the domestic market.
The apparent health of family moviegoers is particularly good news for Hollywood, as it embarks on its lucrative summer season, with films such as Universal’s own “Minions: Rise of Gru” and Walt Disney Co.’s “Lightyear.” – Pixar’s first film to hit theaters in two years – I hope we get closer to pre-pandemic levels.
“There’s reason to be more than cautiously optimistic,” said Jim Orr, Universal’s head of distribution. “I think the audience will be in theaters this summer.
While studios were reluctant to program many films against each other during the pandemic, the weekend saw a rarity: three new broadcasts, all well received, none of them a sequel or remake.
“The Bad Boys”, based on Aaron Blaby’s children’s graphic novel about a gang of crooked animals in Quentin Tarantino’s tone for children, performed well with critics (85% fresh for Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (“A” CinemaScore). With little family competition until Lightyear’s release in mid-June, The Bad Guys should play well for weeks. After debuting abroad for the first time, the animated film has already grossed $ 63.1 million internationally.
The other new releases of the weekend – “The Northman” by Robert Eggers and “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” starring Cage – did not perform so well, but still performed relatively well in their first weekend.
“Every weekend is a building block in recovery, but I don’t even want to call it recovery. I think the cinemas have been restored. “We’re almost there,” said Paul Dergarabedyan, a senior media analyst at ComScore. “Three newcomers were well received and all found an audience.”
The risks were greatest for Focus Features’ “Northerner,” which topped $ 70 million, a significant increase for Egers, director of previous Indie historical horrors “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse.” The film’s path to profitability was unlikely even before it hit theaters, but it opened up higher than expected with $ 12 million in ticket sales. He added $ 6.3 million internationally in 26 territories.
The Northerner, starring Alexander Skarsgård, Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicole Kidman, is involved in a brutal and bloody revenge saga.
“First and foremost, we wanted to work with Robert Eggers,” said Lisa Bunell, head of distribution at Focus, which internationally distributed Eggers’ first two films. “The key here is that we have to make a film that we wanted to make with a director who we think is part of the future of American cinema. He has a very distinctive voice. He makes a movie with the original IP, not just enters: “Let’s make a sequel!”
Meanwhile, a new part of the once all-powerful brand, Harry Potter spin-off “Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets”, fell off a cliff during its second weekend in theaters. Warner Bros., the third film in Fantastic Beasts, fell 67 percent in the second week to $ 14 million. This is a bad sign for the future of the franchise, if it is continued by Warner Bros. (The studio has so far refrained from greening for a fourth film.) Still, Dumbledore’s Secrets, last week’s best film, is doing better abroad. International sales of $ 213.2 million represent the lion’s share of the film’s global $ 280.3 million.
Lionsgate’s “unbearable weight of enormous talent,” a gonzo meta comedy starring Cage as an exaggerated version of himself, began at approximately $ 7.2 million. The film, which for the first time began to warm up reviews from the South to the Southwest, will depend on a good word of mouth to approach the realization of its budget of 30 million dollars.
This is the good success of “Everything Everywhere”. The A24, an insanely meta-universal fantasy with Michelle Yeo, was one of the brightest signs of the specialty film business, another industry sector fighting theatrically during the pandemic. In its fifth week, Everything Everywhere and All at once raised $ 5.4 million, down just 12 percent from the previous week.
But the biggest breakthrough in theaters this April is for family cinema. This is a good time for the film industry, which will gather in Las Vegas this week for CinemaCon, the annual convention and trade show for a trumpet show. Expect many proclamations that cinemas are back.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday in theaters in the United States and Canada, according to Comscore. The final internal data will be published on Monday.
1. The Bad Boys, $ 24 million.
2. Sonic the Hedgehog 2, $ 15.2 million.
3. “Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets”, $ 14 million.
4. The Northerner, $ 12 million.
5. “The Unbearable Weight of Huge Talent,” $ 7.2 million.
6. “Everything everywhere and at once”, $ 5.4 million.
7. The Lost City, $ 4.4 million.
8. “Father Stu”, $ 3.4 million.
9. Morbius, $ 2.3 million.
10. Ambulance, $ 1.8 million.
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