There’s a million points of coverage with the box office and everyone tries to come up with their own quip but largely end up in the same area. The simple truth is that even after the various controversies over Bohemian Rhapsody the film had a strong opening weekend with a $50 million take, exceeding expectations going into the weekend. With an “A” CinemaScore from audiences and a pretty even mix in gender, it leaned heavily to those twenty-five and over with almost 80% of the audience in that range. The film also racked up some good numbers overseas where it’s not at $72 million to give it a worldwide of $122 million. The biggest leader is naturally the UK where it opened last weekend.
The other big new film this weekend was The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, which was viewed as something that wasn’t going to be as big as some other Disney projects even if they wanted it to be and it looks like it’s going to struggle, at least domestically. with a budget that’s in the $130 million range, it opened with a $20 million take – and likely just too early to capitalize on the holiday audience that’s simply not ready for something like this yet. It garnered a “B+” CinemaScore which isn’t going to help alongside low critical reviews. It did better overseas where it opened in 45 markets and did $38 million with China bringing in $12 million.
On the lower side of new releases, Nobody’s Fool debuted with a $14 million take but that’s done on a $19 million budget. Paramount’s R-rated comedy got an “A-” CinemaScore and leadn female but also looked to grab the 18+ audiences rather than just the over 25 audiences.
A lot of films that have been out for awhile added more coin with most under $8 million though both A Star is Born and Halloween did over $11 million.
Next week looks like a busy week wit three sizable films landing that will eat up a lot of screens. Universal is going for the holiday fare (which again may be too early) with Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch in 4,000 screens while Paramount goes for WWII horror with Overlordopening in 2,500 screens. Sony is looking for that sweet spot in the middle for The Girl in the Spider’s Web at 3,000 screens.
