Well, it was certainly a weekend of movies.
Our number one film is One Battle After Another, the much-hyped Paul Thomas Anderson picture which opened to $22 million. You’re going to hear a lot of people praising that’s the acclaimed director’s best opening to date, but for a man who’s never really made a “commercial” film before now (did you see There Will Be Blood in a packed auditorium full of people applauding during the milkshake line? Probably not), wasn’t this the inevitable outcome?
In other words, I feel the press is giving this a weird pass for a premiere which is arguably a “fine” at best and disappointing at worst, considering the price tag for this one is well upwards of $100 million. I’m hearing optimism that this one will be quite leggy…but will it? One Battle faced no battles with critics, and audiences gave it an ‘A’ CinemaScore. But it’s still a political-themed black comedy action movie drama thriller satire which clocks it at nearly three hours. Those aren’t usually words one associates with blockbusters. As for hype, I worry that may have gone too overboard for its own good here. Social media posts said things like “it’s a movie that will define this generation” and “the best film I’ve ever reviewed since I started reviewing films 15 years ago.” Influencers got in on the game, with WB showing young people in cars who had probably never seen a PTA film before talking it up. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong and One Battle After Another will leg it out in the coming weeks. And maybe it will be because of those young people in cars telling folks to go. Maybe I’m as old and out of touch as Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in this film, I don’t know.
For WB, this concludes their highly successful year at the box office, as believe it or not, they have no more wide releases scheduled for 2025. They abruptly removed Mortal Kombat II from next month’s release schedule in an attempt to make it into a summer tentpole. This means the rest of the year really belongs to Disney (Tron: Ares, Avatar: Fire and Ash, Zootopia 2) and Universal (Black Phone 2, FNAF 2, and Wicked: For Good).
And speaking of Universal, they had a pretty solid opening for Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie, which managed $13.5 million against a reported $30 million budget. This is in line for a title where the target audience is little kids. The real money for this is merchandise, as Gabby’s Dollhouse stuff apparently flies off store shelves. I’ve never watched the Netflix series on which this is based, but the trailer had Kristen Wiig being wacky and doing yoga with her cat, so you know, I’m on board. By the way, Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie is the first DreamWorks Animation outing to get an ‘A+’ CinemaScore. Take that however you will.
Finally, audiences are strangers to The Strangers: Chapter 2, the second entry the trilogy of films which are a reboot of a 2008 slasher which only had one long-delayed sequel. Oh, Lionsgate, you are going to Lionsgate, although I do admire the ambition here, as all three of these were shot back-to-back-to-back. Let’s just hope Lionsgate doesn’t pull a Zaslav and pursue a tax write-off for the already filmed third entry. So far The Strangers: Chapter 2 has made only $5.9 million.
Anyway, the top ten, via The Numbers
