Hollywood is saving a few bigger guns for the Thanksgiving holiday starting this Wednesday, but has been supplying theaters with a few nuggets in the meantime. One only did Fiennes and the other may wonder if he should have been retained for streaming. Neither was going to challenge the second weekend of wakanda foreverwhose shot to a five-week winning streak may have hinged on that pre-holiday performance lest he be challenged by a spirited bid from his own studio. Wakanda forever’s path seems a little clearer this week with North America alone getting the movie halfway to the billion it would like to reach.
Harvest King: wakanda forever Rehearsals, eyes $300 million domestic
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever indeed led the way for a second consecutive week, accounting for 67.8% of the entire top 10. (Last week, it brought in 87.6% of the top 10 money.) Gross estimated at $67.3 million brings his total to $287.9 million. That’s about $5 million less than Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness made in its first 10 days, though that film dropped 67% to $61.7 million over weekend two. Wakanda’s a little better, a drop of 62.9% already puts it on the right track Multiverseespecially with the five-day Thanksgiving holiday waiting in the wings. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story grossed $64 million in its second frame in 2016, making it $286 million in 10 days. wakanda forever would like to keep that pace because that would put him on track for $500 million, but he’s unlikely to have $424 million by the end of Sunday. Among the 18 films that broke the half-billion mark (excluding Titanic and Avatar), the lowest 17-day gross receipts were in 2017 The beauty and the Beast ($393.3 million) and The black Knight ($393.7 million). Whether wakanda forever can hit that low by Sunday, we’ll reassess his odds at $500 million.
New surprise: indoor screening of TV series The chosen Break into the top five
(Photo by Angel Studios)
Perhaps TV shows are the extra spark that cinemas could use as movies are constantly pushed to streaming platforms. The irony is so thick that two episodes of season three of the faith-based show The chosen could play in 2,012 theaters and gross $8.2 million via Fathom Events, which must have driven some filmmakers crazy. Christmas with the elect, you may recall, hit theaters for a few weekends in December 2021 and grossed over $13.7 million. And those were just people working on the show singing Christmas songs. Two episodes of the show itself earned enough to climb to No. 3 at the box office this week.
Rotten Returns: Harvey Weinstein’s Investigative Drama She says Falls flat
Universal may have thought they had an outside competitor with She says, a profile of the reporters who uncovered the story of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misconduct allegations, but it’s going to be overtaken by other claimants who barely hit 1,000 theaters. That’s probably no big surprise, considering audiences probably weren’t looking for such a heavy topic just before Turkey Day. The result was only $2.2 million at the box office. Eventual winner for best film on the same theme Projector, by comparison, grossed $1.3 million in its second weekend… at just 61 theaters. Nominated for Best Steven Spielberg Picture The post office, starring couple Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, grossed $1.69 million in its third weekend… from just 36 theaters. Nominated for Best George Clooney Picture Good night and good luck also earned $2.25 million in weekend three… at 225 theaters. She says plays in 2,022 venues for an average per venue of $1,088. It is the third-worst PTA of 2022 for a film in more than 2,000 theaters, ahead of just Workshop 666 ($668) and pearl ($1,068).
The Top 10 and beyond: The menu Claims No. 2, while black adam Keep on falling
The other new release of the week did much better in comparison, but still pretty OK. by Mark Mylod The menu with Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy opened to $9 million. The amazing story about this number is that it was Searchlight’s best opening weekend since Baggage claim opened to $9.03 million in 2013. It is also the biggest launch in the company’s history and the first time they have opened a movie in over 3,000 theaters. TV commercials have aired fairly regularly, and while movies with horror elements have traditionally not done well during the end of the holidays, perhaps The menu will continue to find a crowd after Thanksgiving as it becomes the studio’s highest-grossing film since their Oscar JoJo Rabbit in 2019.
Warner Bros., on the other hand, is not closing out 2022 as they would have hoped. Without films in preparation until house party (January 10, 2023) and Magic Mike’s Last Dance (February 10, 2023) two movies they re-entered theaters from HBO MAX streaming they had to rely on DC’s black adam, and it turns out to be a bust. Down to $4.4 million over weekend five, Dwayne Johnson’s maybe anti-superhero superhero only grossed $156.9 million, putting it just ahead of that of Marvel. Eternals it was last year. Eternals even grossed $4.09 million in its fifth weekend, eventually ending with $164.8 million. This is exactly the range we said black adam would end for weeks. Worse still for the movie is that it only grossed another $209 million internationally, which means it should make less than $400 million in total. That could very well make it a $100 million loser for everyone involved and the studio’s biggest theatrical exclusive loser since 2017. Justice League.
A film that is much closer to coming out of the red is Universal’s ticket to paradise. The current big-screen comedy death exhibit saw its biggest drop yet (47%) to $3.2 million over the weekend, bringing its total to $61.5 million. With over an additional $97 million internationally, the film is still around $21 million away from recouping its expensive $60 million budget. Reaching $70 million domestically still not out of the question as it nears 1998 Blade ($3.2 million in fifth weekend, $61.3 million 31-day total). The upcoming holidays will keep their drop low, and if they can squeeze out a few more international bucks, Universal will have a little hit on its hands.
Two limited-release films that will get expansions on Wednesday are Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans and that of Luca Guadagnino bones and all. The former, in its second week of release in just four theaters, added another $94,078, bringing its total to $314,000. It will move to 600 theaters before Thanksgiving. A much more aggressive launch will be seen with UA Releasing bones and all, which grossed $120,000 at five theaters over the weekend. It will go to more than 2,500 theaters on Wednesday, and its average of $24,000 per theater is the 10th best for a limited release in 2022. The Fabelmans had fourth best last week.
On the vine: strange world and Dedication Enter Thanksgiving weekend
Thanksgiving has a number of offerings in addition to the aforementioned extensive expansions. The film that has the best chance of dethroning the new Black Panther east of disney strange worldwhich has the benefit of being the first new family-friendly animated film since the DC summer League of Super Animals. They didn’t do too well with their other sci-fi adventure film this year, Light year, and who had name recognition. Will something original go better during the holidays? Also hoping to capitalize a bit on the success of Top Gun: Maverickthere is the true story of Dedication with Jonathan Majors and maverick co-star Glen Powell. Dogfights and war only brought in $56 million for Half-way back in November 2019. Could this be the holiday dad movie?
Full list of box office results: November 18-20, 2022
84%
85%
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
(2022)
- $67.3 million ($288 million total)
89%
77%
The menu
(2022)
- $9 million ($9 million total)
The Chosen – Season 3, Episodes 1 & 2
- $8.2 million ($8.2 million total)
39%
90%
black adam
(2022)
- $4.5 million ($157 million total)
57%
82%
ticket to paradise
(2022)
- $3.2 million ($61.6 million total)
87%
85%
She says
(2022)
- $2.25 million ($2.25 million total)
73%
89%
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile
(2022)
- $1.9 million ($43.2 million total)
79%
74%
Smile
(2022)
- $1.15 million ($104.6 million total)
16%
62%
prey for the devil
(2022)
- $935,000 ($18.4 million total)
98%
74%
The Banshees of Inisherin
(2022)
- $703,000 ($7.17 million total)
Erik Childress can be heard weekly rating the box office on Business First AM with Angela Miles and her Movie Madness podcast.
[box office figures via Box Office Mojo]
Thumbnail image by ©Marvel Studios
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