Posted on 08/29/2022 9:32:31 AM PDT by xp38
LOS ANGELES — If three new movies debut in theatres, but nobody goes to see them…
That is how Sony’s creepy thriller “The Invitation” managed to top box office charts with a paltry $7 million. Its win comes with some pretty weak bragging rights; it’s the lowest first-place finish since May 2021, when COVID was keeping people at home.
Now, it’s not the pandemic that’s preventing audiences from going to theatres, it’s the lack of appealing options. Overall, the domestic box office generated just $54 million over the weekend, the worst collective result in months.
And the bad times are expected to continue until at least late September or early October, when “Don’t Worry Darling” (Sept. 23), “Halloween Ends” (Oct. 14) and the comic book adaptation “Black Adam” (Oct. 21) open in theatres. It’s a disappointing finale to an otherwise strong summer at the movies, which fielded plenty of box office hits including “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” “Thor: Love and Thunder” and “Elvis.”
Over the weekend, two other films — director George Miller’s R-rated dark fantasy “Three Thousand Years of Longing” and the John Boyega-led heist drama “Breaking” — also opened in cinemas to middling results.
“The Invitation” cost $10 million to produce, so it won’t take a ton of coinage to turn a profit. But negative reviews and its pesky “C” CinemaScore likely won’t be helpful in convincing people to go to theatres for “The Invitation.” Directed by Jessica M. Thompson, the story follows Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel of “Game of Thrones” fame) who is invited to her long-lost family’s home in the English countryside, where she discovers sinister secrets.
“Original horror movies do not play particularly well overseas, but in this case the primarily British cast should help,” David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, says of “The Invitation.”
Despite positive reviews, “Three Thousand Years of Longing,” which co-stars Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton as a scholar who encounters a Djinn that grants her three wishes, cratered in its debut with $2.87 million from 2,436 locations. It’s a terrible result for a movie that’s playing in thousands of theatres across the country.
Given its $60 million production budget, MGM and United Artists Releasing’s “Three Thousand Years of LongingIt’s even bleaker for “Breaking,” a tense drama about a hostage situation, which did not crack the top 10 in its box office debut. In 13th place, the Bleecker Street film scraped together $1.022 million from 902 theatres.
Without competition from newcomers, holdovers “Bullet Train,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero” and “Beast” populated the top five on domestic box office charts.
“Bullet Train” nabbed second place with $5.6 million from 3,513 locations. After a month on the big screen, the Brad Pitt-led caper has generated $78 million to date. is shaping up to be one of the year’s biggest bombs. Unless Miller, the acclaimed filmmaker behind “Mad Max,” finds a genie to grant wishes, the movie is unlikely to claw its way out of the red.
“This is a weak opening for an original adventure movie. At a cost of approximately $60 million, ‘Three Thousand Years’ will finish in the red, even with good ancillary distribution,” predicts Gross. “Not all movies come together as planned — this one did not come together.”
It’s even bleaker for “Breaking,” a tense drama about a hostage situation, which did not crack the top 10 in its box office debut. In 13th place, the Bleecker Street film scraped together $1.022 million from 902 theatres.
Without competition from newcomers, holdovers “Bullet Train,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero” and “Beast” populated the top five on domestic box office charts.
“Bullet Train” nabbed second place with $5.6 million from 3,513 locations. After a month on the big screen, the Brad Pitt-led caper has generated $78 million to date.
Universal’s survival thriller “Beast,” also starring Elba, claimed the No. 3 spot with $4.9 million. The film has grossed $20 million to date.
In fourth place, “Top Gun: Maverick” collected $4.75 million from 2,962 locations in its 14th weekend of release. It’s a testament to the endurance of Tom Cruise’s blockbuster sequel (or it’s a sign that truly nothing is playing in theatres) that “Top Gun: Maverick” is still selling tickets even though it’s available on home entertainment. With $691.2 million in North America, the action flick is only $9 million away from knocking down “Black Panther” ($700 million) as the fifth-highest grossing movie in domestic box office history.
“Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero,” which topped the box office last weekend, suffered a steep 78% decline and tumbled to the No. 5 slot with $4.45 million from 3,100 locations. So far, the anime film has generated $30 million in North America.
Movie theaters are a great place to share bedbugs.
I saw Maverick. It was the first movie I went to the theater for in 5 years that I can recall. Maybe more. In fact, I can’t even remember the last movie I saw before that.
Bingo. I think the last theater moving I went to see was American Sniper in 2015.
If you decide to leave the house after two years of covid keeping you home, maverick would be worth risking leaving the house. Yep. It’s that good.
I have small kids, so I keep an eye out for the big family movies… honestly have no idea what’s coming out through the rest of the year…
About the only movie I see that I might even consider taking them too might be puss in boots 2
I don’t see anything else on thr docket that remotely looks interesting…
Last movie I saw in a theater was Independence Day, in 1996. The prices and the rude audiences keep me out.
The wife and I spent $30 for lunch at DQ last weekend, for two chicken strip baskets and 2 shakes. I told her we can’t do that anymore. She agreed.
Will not go to movie theaters now or in the future, and I haven’t been in one for about 7 years.
However...
There are some of those movies which I’ll watch on Netflix or Prime video, when they’re made available.
Big Brother locked them up at home.
3000 Years of Longing is the only one of those I even heard about, and didn’t realize it was coming out this weekend. End of the summer is one of the dump zones, blockbuster season is over, Halloween hasn’t started, out comes the movies nobody knows how to sell.
Go woke. Go broke. F em all
And F the new Tolkien black elves having sex crap
Haven’t gone to the movies in years but saw three movies this summer: Top Gun, Elvis, Where the crawdads sing. They were all worth it but I think it’s going to be many more years before I go again.
If only Disney made family movies for little kids. Those were the days.
Okay, this year's Tom Cruise movie.
I thought you were talking about the 1994 Mel Gibson movie.
It is not just Covid or just lack of appealing movies. People’s habits have been permanently changed. For good or ill.
Hollywood Panics!
We don't go often, but when we do we go weekdays around noon when the theaters are pretty much empty and the kids are in school. We haven't experienced rude moviegoers at those time slots.
Two adults could see Top Gun from reclining seats for $20.97 tax included.
Me too. Top gun maverick was the first movie I’ve seen at a theatre in over 6 years.
Maverick on IMAX was outstanding. Well worth the price.
My granddaughter is third year at USNA I’ve got to see Top Gun with her twice this summer. Love the movie
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