Posted on 03/26/2018 2:07:09 PM PDT by EdnaMode
The month's last hope at the U.S. box office is Steven Spielberg's 'Ready Player One,' which opens Thursday, the eve of Easter weekend. With less than a week to go, Hollywood's major March releases have failed to bloom at the North American box office, triggering the worst year-over-year decline for the month in recent memory.
March revenue through Sunday was an estimated $722.5 million, a 28 percent decline from the same time period last year ($997.3 million), according to comScore.
The last hope for redemption is Steven Spielberg's pricey Ready Player One, which Warner Bros. and Amblin Entertainment open in theaters Thursday, the eve of Easter weekend.
Last year, films released in March ultimately generated north of $1.2 billion in domestic ticket sales, led by Beauty and the Beast ($504 million), Logan ($226 million), The Boss Baby ($175 million) and Kong: Skull Island ($168 million) And in 2016, that same stat was $939 billion, fueled by Zootopia ($341 million) and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice ($330.4 million).
While this year's crop of March titles are still in the heart of their runs, they won't match those numbers, considering not one title has come close to hitting $100 million. And without carryover revenue from February's Black Panther as in $200 million-plus the situation would be even worse.
March offerings that have disappointed in 2018 include Legendary's and Universal's Pacific Rim Uprising, which debuted over the weekend to $28 million in North America against a $155 million budget. The weekend before, Warner Bros.' and MGM's Tomb Raider opened to an even worse $23 million domestically. Both films are doing far better overseas, but that doesn't erase the blemish of a lackluster domestic run.
Disney's A Wrinkle in Time, which opened March 9, also has underwhelmed in a major way. The Ava DuVernay-directed family film has earned $73.9 million so far domestically, and could have trouble getting to $100 million. In past years, Disney has often dominated the March corridor, between Beauty and the Beast, Zootopia, Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland.
The March slump has resulted in 2018 box-office revenue running behind that of last year by 2.7 percent, according to comScore.
The saving grace has been Disney's and Marvel's Black Panther, which has grossed nearly $631 million in North America since its mid-February debut (thanks to the superhero film, February revenue crossed $1 billion for the first time ever).
Over the weekend, Black Panther became the top-grossing superhero film of all time domestically, as well as claimed fifth place on the list of history's top-grossing films, not adjusted for inflation.
All told, Black Panther accounts for roughly 24 percent of all 2018 revenue at the domestic box office.
"A reliance on one title namely Black Panther to do the heavy lifting while a host of newcomers over the past few weeks have faltered to one degree or another has resulted in a deficit situation that will take some time to reverse. Reboots and sequels are no guarantee of success, and at least a couple of recent examples will rely on their appeal outside of North America to put them into profitability," says box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian of comScore.
"What should have been March madness in the wake of a massive performance by Black Panther turned to box office sadness," Dergarabedian continues. "March has been a disappointing month that wasn't bolstered by a solid lineup of films that could compare to last years stellar first-quarter slate."
Both Dergarabedian and Wall Street analyst Eric Handler of MKM Partners say that comparisons to March 2017 were always going to be tough. Handler adds he thought the first quarter would be down more than it is. "To come to close to last year is a pretty good achievement," Handler says. "Originally, the Street expectation was for a double digit decline."
I enjoyed the book, mostly for all the 80’s trivia in it. I knew the movie would be butchered to appeal to millenials.
Yeah it’s like they want to lose money.
Disney/Marvel is going to have a monopoly on movies pretty soon.
I saw it this weekend. I liked it.
Or they are even more dependent on non-US movie box office revenue.
Moderately - not extravagantly - talented, she was given a limousine ride through life, yet veered it into a crowd of innocent pedestrians because she thought she was better than they, and did not like where they were walking on their own time and with their own dime.
Thanks. I was leaning that way.
I checked out the movies listings as it is my turn to plan the date. 7 Days in Entebbe,
The Original was better made for TV I think. I have not been out to a movie since 1977. Will not waste money on their Crap Ever.
Temporarily. What happens when ther current characters are retired or deceased in favor of the next generation of lesser or non-stars with their Socialist inJustice Warrior plots and scripts?
What about Bruce Willis’ “Death Wish” remake? Probably one of the few mainstream films I’m looking forward to seeing this year.
I am just happy they made such a movie in this day and age. Who would have thought there would be a pro-Israel pro-kill-terrorists sort of movie made nowadays?
Unless Marvel ruins it. And if the rumors I've heard are true, they have.
I saw it. I liked it. There were a few parts that I don't think they handled well, but over all I liked it.
Yeah they definitely are.
I saw it yesterday, and almost didn't get in. Sold out.
I saw it. Its not bad. I wouldnt pay to see it though. But then I wont hardly pay to see anything. Lol
This has happened to me also. The sound was so loud it hurt my ears. I didn’t have ear plugs and complaining did no good.
Maybe Hollywood “stars” should spend more on anti-second amendment causes.
good
means less money to push their propaganda.
NOW what about all the pedophiles we heard about in Hollywood?
When is the hammer going to drop on that little problem>?
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