Box Office Discussion: "Man" of the (New) Year

 New Year's audiences turn out for Spider-Man and Sing and pretty much nothing else.

With no new titles in the marketplace, the hope was that the holdovers would not only perform similarly to last weekend, but even see a bump.  Unfortunately, that's not what happened, as nearly every movie fell from its Christmas weekend totals.  In many cases, the falls were small, but they were still falls, suggesting that the shot in the arm that Spider-Man: No Way Home provided to our nation's theaters might be temporary.

Spidey continues to dominate, taking in $56 million for a total of $613.6 million.  That's enough for it to enter the all-time domestic Top 10.  At this point, $700 million seems assured, and depending on how it navigates an increasingly thin-looking January, $800 million is not out of the question.  It will likely finish its run as the third or fourth highest-grossing film of all time, a gross that makes me wonder if, without Covid, it could have challenged Avengers: Endgame for #2.  Then again, without Covid, I'd expect the competition to be more vigorous, as it increasingly is looking like Spider-Man may be the only title that audiences are willing to risk getting Omicron to come out to see.

Well, Spider-Man and Sing 2.  The animated musical finished a solid second this weekend, taking in $20.2 million, nearly even with last weekend's gross.  That, combined with strong weekday grosses, has earned it a 12-day total of $90.3 million, just below Encanto.  By next weekend, it will be both the highest-grossing animated title of 2021, and the 14th and likely final film of the year to cross the $100 million mark.  

The King's Man held up decently, battling through to a $4.6 million weekend, for a 12-day total of $19.6 million, a total that is still well below what either of its predecessors made on their opening weekends.  Indeed, it seems very likely that the film ultimately won't even reach either film's opening weekend gross.

American Underdog seems to be the one soft performer that might be able to find some January legs, if the studio is willing to spend some money to advertise during the NFL playoffs.  However, its second weekend grosses aren't promising, as it fell from its two-day opening last weekend, to $3.9 million, for a nine-day total of $14.8 million.  The film isn't a sack, but it sure isn't a touchdown, either, at least at this point.

The Matrix Resurrections is the weekend's big loser, dropping a whopping 64% to $3.8 million, suggesting that the entire audience for the fourth and apparently unwanted Matrix movie pretty much turned out last weekend.  Its 12-day gross is $30.9 million, and it will be lucky to make it to $40 million at this point.

West Side Story continues to dance along, taking in $2.2 million for a total of $29.6 million.  This year, Oscar nominations aren't out until February 8, which will likely be too late to provide much of a boost.

For whatever reason, Ghostbusters: Afterlife jumped back into the Top 10 this weekend, bringing in $1.5 million for a total of $123.4 million.  Licorice Pizza continues to do OK business in more limited release, earning $1.3 million for a total of $6.4 million.

The Denzel Washington-directed A Journal for Jordan won't be remembered as the flop that The King's Man or Matrix Resurrections will be, but there's no doubt that it also is a huge disappointment.  It fell almost half from last weekend's two-day opening, earning $1.2 million for a nine-day total of $4.8 million.  Since it isn't going to be an awards player, this one might have been better off opening in February or March.

Rounding out the Top 10, Encanto continues to be hurt by being available already on Disney+, which, more than Sing 2, seems to have cut the legs right out of the film.  It brought in $1.1 million for a total of $91.4 million.  Disney does have a knack for getting its films past big round numbers like $100 million--at least on paper, but it will take a lot of fancy accounting to find the remaining $8.6 million.

Going back to 2008, a new horror movie has typically been the first new wide release of the New Year, most likely opening on the Friday after New Year's.  The tradition was broken last year, with the first new wide release being the Liam Neeson Old Man of Action vehicle The Marksman, and this year, the first new wide release is a Young Women of Action flick.  The 355 stars Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong'o, Diane Kruger, Fan Bingbing, and Penélope Cruz as a group of international spies who have to work together to keep a superweapon from falling into the wrong hands.  The cast is unusually good for a first Friday of January release, but there's usually a reason films like this come out at this time of year.  So don't expect much critically or commercially from The 355.  It likely won't challenge Spider-Man for the top spot, but it could take out Sing 2 for #2.  We'll find out for sure next week.