Box Office Discussion: No "Monster" Box Office This Christmas

 

A narrow win for a movie that, under usual circumstances, would be much more likely to open in January.

Twas the weekend before Christmas, and all through the theater, holiday moviegoers were doing what they had mostly been doing since the pandemic began--staying home.  Leading the charge was Monster Hunter, the new sci-fi fantasy actioner from husband-and-wife team of director Paul W.S. Anderson and star Milla Jovovich.  The thriller, which also starred Ron Perlman, Thai martial artist Tony Jaa, T.I., Meagan Good, and Diego Boneta, opened to $2.2 million.  It edged out three-time champion The Croods: A New Age, which took in $2.1 million, for a total of $27.1 million.

Opening in third was the neo-noir Fatale, starring Hilary Swank and Micahel Ealy.  It couldn't quite make it to a million, opening to $0.9 million, but still finished well ahead of everything else in release, many of which were Christmas-themed re-releases.

Indeed at #4, with $0.4 million, was the 2003 Will Ferrell comedy Elf, followed by Half Brothers, The Polar Express, Freaky, The War With Grandpa, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the 2000 Jim Carrey version.  Outside the Top 10 were The Grinch (the 2018 animated version, The Muppet Christmas Carol, and It's a Wonderful Life.  

If any weekend is going to lift the box office out of its doldrums, it will be Christmas weekend, with four new features.  Leading the charge is Wonder Woman 1984, which sees Gal Gadot's ageless Amazonian in the Reagan years, battling Kristin Wiig's Cheetah.  Chris Pine somehow comes back too, despite the fact that his Steve Trevor died back in 1918 in the first movie.  This, in theory, should be teed up for the best opening since Onward back in March, right before everything begin shutting down, but there is the extra wrinkle that it's also debuting on HBO Max.  Of course, not everyone has that particular streaming service, but if Wonder Woman's opening is much softer than expected, that could be a key reason why.

Only opening in theaters, and a possible #1 if Wonder Woman falters, is Tom Hanks in the western News of the World, which is expected to be a major Oscar contender.  Another contender is Promising Young Woman, a candy-colored revenge thriller starring Carey Mulligan.  Finally, a new live-action Pinocchio, which opened last year in its native Italy, hits US theaters.  This one, with its PG-13 rating, seems to be a darker take on the material.  It marks the return to film of Oscar winner Roberto Benigni for the first time since 2012, 18 years after his own disastrous take on the story hit American theaters (this time, he's playing Gepetto).  Will anyone show up to see these films on the big screen, or will everyone shelter in place and watch Netflix?  We'll find out next week.  Until then, have a very Merry (and safe) Christmas!