Posted on 11/22/2020 1:47:53 PM PST by EdnaMode
The weekend before Thanksgiving is one of the most desired release dates. It’s been home to entries in the Harry Potter, Twilight, and Hunger Games franchises; in 2019, “Frozen II” opened to $130 million. This year, weekend grosses won’t pass $7 million and only “Freaky” made more than $1 million.
These numbers cap a week of bad-to-worse news for theaters. Announcements from Universal codifed its Premium VOD plans, which suggest that the new maximum window, likely adapted by other distributors, is five weekends after opening. Warner Bros. placed “Wonder Woman 1984” on HBO Max for 30 days, along with theaters that want to play it. (The logic behind the 30-day rule is murky; perhaps the hope is by the end of January, more theaters will be open?)
With elevated government restrictions and COVID-19 cases that seem to hit new highs on a daily basis, 2,800 theaters were open this weekend. That’s down from 3,400 last weekend, and about half of the possible locations.
The average gross per complex, with 60 percent of these having eight or more screens, was around $4,000 or $500 per screen. That can’t even cover operating costs, especially with half of the revenue going to film rental.
“Croods: A New Age” (Universal) opens this Wednesday for the long holiday weekend. Alone, it should gross more than this weekend’s total. That will be the last major new release until “Wonder Woman 1984” Christmas Day, which it will share with “News of the World” from Universal, “Promising Young Woman” from Focus Features, and Sony’s “Monster Hunter.”
Theater closings took their toll on holdovers. After weeks of seeing many films hold well in the absence of competition, all dropped by at least 40 percent and some more than 50 percent. “Freaky,” which is #1 for a second weekend, dropped 56 percent.
One film that continues to show (relative) strength is “The War with Grandpa” (101). The comedy actually jumped a slot to#2 this weekend, with only a 45 percent fall. At over $16 million, it is the top gross among all releases that dared to open since “Tenet.”
Several films took advantage of the opportunity for easy access to big-circuit theaters, but the results were negligible. “Vanguard” (Gravitas Ventures), with Jackie Chan reuniting with director Stanley Tong, placed seventh, but with only $291 per theater. “The Last Vermeer” (Sony), originally a Sony Pictures Classics release when it premiered at the 2019 Telluride and Toronto festivals, landed at #9, $247 per theater. “Fate: Stay/Night: Heaven,” a Fathom presentation of a Japanese animated film, had rare access to multiple days and screenings. It took #10 with a somewhat better but still weak result ($647 PTA).
There is nothing on Red Box.
Love ya’ Sam but have to disagree.....Nothing like Movie Theater popcorn or Hotdogs at a baseball game.....
Love ya’ Sam but have to disagree.....Nothing like Movie Theater popcorn or Hotdogs at a baseball game.....
I hate to make Jeff Bezos even richer because he’s so anti-Trump, but watching films on an Amazon HD 10 Fire Tablet with an Amazon Prime subscription works for me.
Sometimes the subtitles get a bit distracting, but I agree with you. Nothing from any of the major domestic studios has had enough appeal to get me to stream it, much less drag me into a theater. My wife feels the same. I exempt the independent and foreign studios because they're willing to take a leap of faith on some 'outside-the-box' concepts that the big ones won't touch. Since we cut the cable and went with Roku or Amazon boxes on every screen in the house, we discovered a galaxy of channels out there that you just don't get in your cable bundle. It's liberating. And sitting here on my PC with a broadband connection and a 32" monitor, it's like a home theater system. I have many free or low fee streaming sites bookmarked and can pick and choose what I want to watch, when I want to watch it. We share like-for-like subscription services with the kids, as well, so I don't think anybody pays more for monthly fees higher than the cost of a single movie ticket, including a bucket of greasy popcorn and a large soda. Certainly a lot less than monthly cable fees, and probably ten times the programming access. And Sam, the most annoying thing about going to a movie is the inevitable tallest person in the theater sitting in the seat directly in front of me and blocking the screen with their Size 10 melon.
I would pay $100 to stream Top Gun 2.
Also, they seem to be long on computer generated graphics and short on story
America is no longer the target audience for Hollywood. Movies today are made for non-english (and non western audience. (I think China is their main audience).
This is why today’s movies are mostly action adventure with little story or dialog. Think silent movies with explosions.
Less money in communist hollywood is a good thing but you are right, that money is being poured into home streaming options.
JoMa
perhaps it is because I can sit in my home, listen to a state of the art home entertainment system, Drink beer, make popcorn and pause the movie as I please, that people are starting to avoid theaters?
Why do you think cars are more popular than buses?
Freedom.
Most my movies are cheaper than a soft drink at a concession stand in a movie house.
My popcorn is fresh made Orville Reden whats his name and my soft drink is a rock that gathers no moss.
30 seconds over Tokyo is the movie.
Banzai!
I will never spend even a penny on any Hollywood movie again for the rest of my life. I refuse to support the Trump hating evil doers in Hollywood.
They can drop dead as fa as I am concerned.
All those self described stars better start saving their money rather than throwing it at leftist gutter holes.
The list of new releases sounds like a lot of pending BS social justice drivel.
F@ them and the chi coms to hell.
Some do, others don’t.
I speak from experience. Nobody understood what I did in TV production and engineering. A few classes in computer repair and an A+ in 2000 helped me transiston from professional poverty into a good career. I had pay some dues to get there.
Ha, ha. As someone "height challenged" at 5'8", I know this problem. However, most modern movie theaters are steep and this problem rarely comes up any more.
A local theater was trying something different to get folks in. You could basically rent the theater out, and bring your own flick, like a blu-ray or DVD. From what I understand, a Blue-ray actually looks pretty good on the big screen. However, MPAA decided that they couldn’t do that, so disallowed it. They apparently don’t give a damn whether or not the theaters stay in business. Evil bastards.
My first wife was 4’ 10”. We didn’t go to the movies. She couldn’t see over the seatback in front of her. LOL!
I agree. I absolutely love going to the movies and I don’t care about prices of food and drink. I buy anyway. However, since the pandemic, I have seen one movie that even sorta was interesting to me. A few months before the pandemic was similar. Hopefully they are saving the good movies until this is over.
Unfortunately they know the reasons for the low boxoffice and it’s not politics. It’s everyone staying home.
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