Box Office Discussion: Theaters Are Losing the "War"

As theater chains shutter and others hint they're almost out of money and more titles head to streaming, a Robert De Niro comedy takes over the top spot.

The dire times continue for the nation's theaters, as the never-ending pandemic continues to scramble upcoming release calendars, as the elusive blockbuster that will finally convince a reluctant populace to embrace moviegoing again continues to look very far away.  Two new casualties this week were Disney/Pixar's Soul, which abandoned its Thanksgiving to be Disney+'s Christmas gift to everyone but AMC and Cinemark, and Paramount's Coming 2 America, which is now likely to bypass theaters and head straight for Amazon Prime.  The departure of Soul from the calendar means the only remaining Thanksgiving title is The Croods: A New Age, and I doubt the sequel to a largely forgotten animated comedy from 2013 is going to make people rush back out there.

In the meantime, the most prominent film to come out since Tenet arrived and promptly dislodged the sci-fi actioner from the top spot.  The War With Grandpa, which stars Robert De Niro as the titular Grandpa, who has to take over grandson's Oakes Fegley's bedroom, much to the kid's chagrin, has been sitting on the shelf for nearly three years.  It's finally out, and with precious little else out there, took in $3.6 million.  That's not a great number, but its easily the best opening since Tenet's even if it pales in comparison to what The New Mutants and even Unhinged opened to in the heady days of August.

Tenet creeped ever closer to $50 million, which in this environment might as well be $300 million, with a sixth weekend gross of $2.1 million.  With its domestic total at $48.3 million, it should pass the half-century mark sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Having a decent hold for #3 is Hocus Pocus, which conjured up another $1.2 million for a ten-day re-release gross of $3.1 million.  In fourth, The New Mutants took in $0.7 million, for a gross of $22 million.  Unhinged came in fifth, grossing a bit below $0.7 million, to bring its total to $19.4 million.

Unlike stablemate Hocus Pocus, Coco, Disney/Pixar's 2017 hit about the Day of the Dead (the Mexican religious holiday, not the 1985 zombie movie) didn't attract much business with its re-release.  It could only come up with $0.2 million.

After Infidel and Possessor Uncut in 7th and 8th, the other film debuting in the Top Ten, the drama Yellow Rose, about an aspiring Filipino country music singer, could only scrape up a bit over $150,000.  The Empire Strikes Back rounds out the Top 10 with $145,000.

Grandpa's time on top might be short-lived because the latest actioner from Liam Neeson, Honest Thief, opens this weekend.  Neeson's endless variations on the Taken formula have largely lost their appeal during normal times, but it could definitely attract an audience during these times.  Could it open as high as $5 million?  We'll find out next week.