Klaus Vedfelt
Alex Garland's dystopian film “Civil War” once again won the weekend box office, according to estimates, but ticket sales were slow.
Election-year gamble A24, the independent studio's biggest-budgeted film to date, grossed $11.1 million in ticket sales from 3,929 theaters during the year. weekend. The $50 million film, set in a near-future United States in which Texas and California have united in a rebellion against a fascist president, has grossed $44.9 million in two weeks.
Its provocative premise – and A24's marketing, which included images of war-torn American cities – helped keep “Civil War” in the minds of moviegoers.
But it was a painfully slow weekend in theaters, the kind sure to raise concerns about what has so far been a poor year for Hollywood at the box office.
Heading into the weekend, Universal Pictures' (NASDAQ:CMCSA) “Abigail,” a critically acclaimed R-rated horror film about Dracula’s daughter, was expected to lead ticket sales. It came in second place with $10.2 million in 3,384 theaters.
Still, it was a fair result for a film that cost a modest $28 million to make. “Abigail,” which is a remake of the 1936 monster movie “Dracula's Daughter,” is about a 12-year-old girl kidnapped by kidnappers who soon realize they have made the wrong choice as a hostage. It is directed by the duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, whose production company is called Radio Silence.
More worrying was the overall lukewarm response to a handful of new releases, and the likelihood of more similar weekends throughout 2024. Last year's actors and screenwriters' strikes, which had a lingering effect on the pipeline of movies, exacerbated the holes in the Hollywood industry. release schedule.
Horror films, which in recent years have been among the most reliable sources of income for cinemas, have also so far not done the automatic business that they did before. According to David A. Gross, who runs the consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, horror releases accounted for $2 billion in global sales in 2023.
Guy Ritchie's “The War Office Ungentlemanly” debuted with $9 million in 2,845 theaters. In the Lionsgate release based on a true story, which reportedly cost $60 million to produce, Henry Cavill leads a World War II mission off the coast of West Africa.
Although Ritchie has been behind numerous box office hits, including the live-action “Aladdin” and a pair of Sherlock Holmes films, his recent films have struggled to find large audiences. Lionsgate's spy comedy “Rousse de Guerre” grossed $48 million on a $50 million budget, while MGM's (NASDAQ:AMZN) “The Covenant,” also released last year, grossed $21 million and cost $55 million.
A good sign for “The Ministry of War among Gentlemen”: the public liked it. The film earned an A-minus CinemaScore.
The anime “Spy x Family Code: White”, by Sony (New York Stock Exchange: Sony) Crunchyroll also had trouble standing out among the public. Although the adaptation of Tatsuya Endo's manga television series “Spy x Family” has already been a hit among international moviegoers, it debuted below expectations with $4.9 million in 2,009 U.S. theaters.
However, the most powerful film worldwide remains “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.” The Warner BrothersNASDAQ:WBD) the monster movie has led ticket sales around the world for the last month. It added another $9.5 million domestically and $21.6 million internationally to bring its four-week global total to $485.2 million.
Estimated ticket sales from Friday to Sunday at theaters in the United States and Canada, according to Comscore. Final national figures will be published on Monday.
- “Civil War”, $11.1 million.
- “Abigail,” $10.2 million.
- “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire”, $9.5 million.
- “The Ministry of War among Gentlemen”, $9 million.
- “Spy x Family Code: White,” $4.9 million.
- “Kung Fu Panda 4,” $4.6 million.
- “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” $4.4 million.
- “Dune: Part Two,” $2.9 million.
- “The Ape Man,” $2.2 million.
- “The First Omen,” $1.7 million.
— The Associated Press
