Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Box Office Discussion: Teenage "Mutants" Conquer Hurdles


After 4 prior release dates came and went, red-headed stepchild The New Mutants finally came out in the midst of the pandemic, and scored an easy weekend victory.

The New Mutants, Fox's horror-tinged spin-off of the long-running X-Men series, was supposed to be a lot of things.  It was supposed to be rated R.  It was supposed to come out in early 2018.  Instead, the film ended up with a PG-13 rating and bouncing all over the release schedule for over two years.  Disney, which bought out Fox in the meantime (and dropped the name "Fox") apparently had a contractual obligation to give it a theatrical release.  So while higher-profile films with much less troubled histories found themselves debuting on streaming services or VOD, Mutants became the first new major studio film to get a wide theatrical release in the United States since the shutdown began.  And the results, while not great, were rather promising.  Mutants opened to $7 million, beating out Unhinged's opening last weekend and suggesting that there is still a large audience for theatrical releases, even amid all the craziness of the pandemic.

Given the unprecedented times we're in, it's hard to tell if Unhinged slipping 35% from last weekend is a fantastic hold or a disaster or somewhere in between.  The Russell Crowe thriller took in $2.6 million in its third week to bring its total to $8.8 million.

Opening in third is Bill and Ted Face the Music, reuniting Keanu Reeves with Alex Winter for the first time since 1991 (Reeves's acting career has gone slightly better than Winter's, though Winter has become an acclaimed documentary director).  The opening of this was probably limited by its simultaneous release on VOD, which meant that bigger chains were uninterested in showing it.  Music still took in $1.1 million at the box office.  While VOD numbers are unavailable, there are reports that it was the best-selling title on that format over the weekend, so the amount it has earned is likely much higher.

The weekend's other opening, The Personal History of David Copperfield, was another former Fox title that Disney was probably contractually obligated to release to theaters.  The color-blind Dickens adaption, starring Dev Patel in the title role, earned good reviews, but could only manage $0.5 million despite a wider release than Bill and Ted and no VOD availability.  That said, much more than The New Mutants, this is a title that could earn steadily for weeks, so its probably too early to write it off.

Teen flick Words on Bathroom Walls actually boosted its box office from last weekend, taking in $0.4 million to for a ten-day total of $1.1 million.  Its undoubtedly living up to, and perhaps exceeding the expectations of its distributor.

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run continues its Canada-only release, taking in another $0.4 million for a total gross of $3 million.  My guess is, if Tenet opens well next weekend, Paramount will start looking for a fall date for a US theatrical release.  Thriller Cut Throat City made $0.2 million for a ten-day total of $0.5 million.

Opening in 8th is Chinese epic The Eight Hundred.  The war movie is a massive blockbuster back home, but here was greeted largely with indifference, as it took in $0.1 million.  Rounding out the top ten is South Korean zombie flick Peninsula and the actioner The Tax Collector, both of which made less than $100,000.

Labor Day weekend is usually the one three-day weekend every year where nothing major opens.  That's definitely not the case this year as Warner will be sending Tenet wide.  Christopher Nolan's time-travel extravaganza has done excellent numbers overseas, and the studio is expecting a (relatively) big debut in the US, even if New York and California theaters remain offline.  Just how big remains to be seen.  Some observers think it could take the Labor Day weekend from the 2007 remake of Halloween, which opened to $30.6 million (like I said, this holiday is mostly used as a dump).  If it does open that big, or even in the $20s, I think a lot of the nervousness about the theatrical experience will be relieved.  Even if it underperforms this weekend, the next guaranteed blockbuster on the schedule right now is Wonder Woman 1984, which doesn't open until October 2, so Tenet will have lots of time to spread its legs.  We'll find out if the theatrical experience can be saved next week.

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