Thursday, November 21, 2019

Box Office Discussion: "Ford" Tough

Ford v. Ferrari raced to the top, while Charlie's Angels had a demonic opening.



In a rare (for this day and age) triumph of an original story over IP, Ford v. Ferrari scored an easy #1 at the box office this weekend, opening to $31.5 million, the best opening weekend of November so far and the best opening for a film not connected to an existing franchise since Hustlers back in September.  Like that film, it earned strong reviews, and is likely to garner excellent word of mouth, which will likely come in handy over the upcoming long Thanksgiving weekend and on into December.  While a final gross north of $100 million isn't guaranteed, it seems much more likely than not.

Finishing a distant second was last week's champion, Midway, which fell a bit more than half to $8.5 million.  That puts its 10-day total at $34.9 million.  Whether it can top $50 million will largely depend on how it holds up over the next couple of weeks.

Bombing hard in third is the redo of Charlie's Angels, which could only scrape up $8.4 million.  This is likely to be a massively expensive disaster, and will probably finish under $25 million.

Angels was barely able to hold off family comedy Playing With Fire, which finished fourth with $8.3 million.  Its ten-day total is $25.3 million, and looks to be heading north of $40 million.

Last Christmas held up OK for fifth, earning $6.5 million for a ten-day total of $22.4 million.  Collapsing into sixth is Doctor Sleep, which could only come up with $6 million for a ten-day of $24.9 million.

Opening in 7th is The Good Liar, which didn't get the reviews it would needed to be a potential breakout hit.  The very British drama opened to $5.6 million, but probably has a better chance than just about anything in the current Top 10 outside of Ford v. Ferrari to develop a decent set of legs.  Still, it will be a surprise if this ultimately tops $20 million.

Joker earned another $5.3 million to run its total to $322.3 million.  Maleficent: Mistress of Evil took in $4.9 million for a total of $105.7 million.  Harriet rounded out the Top 10 with $4.6 million for a total of $31.7 million.

Three major titles arrive for the pre-Thanksgiving weekend, though which newcomer will be #1 is a done deal.  Frozen II isn't getting the greatest of reviews, but the animated sequel is pretty much guaranteed to dominate, most likely with an opening over $100 million.  Competing with Ford vs Ferrari for the remaining moviegoers is A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, about the relationship between a cynical journalist, played by Matthew Rhys, and children's show host Fred Rogers--yes, that Fred Rogers.  Like Ford v. Ferrari, it seems designed more for long-term play than a big opening, so expect it to be competing with the car-racing drama for second.  The weekend's wild card is the cop drama 21 Bridges, which marks Chadwick Boseman's first starring role since Black Panther.  Will starring in three of the biggest films of all time the last two years help raise the profile of his latest project?  Will Frozen II be able to open the door to a nine-digit opening?  We'll find out next weekend.

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