Weekend Box Office Takes Short Winter’s Nap, But ‘Spidey’ Still Chasing ‘Avatar’

Saturday Update: Industry executives can’t say that nobody went to the movies this weekend, because the majors didn’t really give them a reason to come out.

That’s because there aren’t any new wide releases, as studios became fearful about omicron’s impact, coupled with a historically lackluster domestic box office period.

This weekend, all titles will gross around $34.7M, which is the lowest since Sept. 24-26, 2021. That’s when Shang-Chi was in its 4th weekend, with $13M, and Universal’s Dear Evan Hansen died with a $7.4M opening, amounting to a $38.8M weekend for all titles.

Next weekend, Lionsgate hopes to lure people out with Roland Emmerich’s Moonfall and Paramount with Jackass Forever, both looking at low-to-mid teen digits, that is, before their final week media blitz ensues.

In the meantime, we can gaze at how Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home is intent on beating Avatar‘s 3rd place of all-time domestic box office record ($760.5M). By the end of Sunday, Spidey will be $25.2M away from taking out the James Cameron sci-fi movie, the superhero’s cume to stand at $735.3M. As we told you last weekend, if Spider-Man: No Way Home is going to deep-six the Na’vi, it’s in a box office grossing course that’s similar to Star Wars: Force Awakens. And that’s happening.

Weekend 7 of No Way Home looks to file $11M (-21%), which is a very similar amount of cash as Force Awakens at the same period in time, $11.1M. Sony is saying $10.4M, -26%, right now, but we’ll see where it is by tomorrow AM. Spider-Man’s 43rd day in release made $2.75M, which is 12% ahead of the $2.46M that Force Awakens did on its 43rd day of play. The Jon Watts-directed MCU title is also booked in more theaters than Force Awakens at the same point in time; 3,675 locations to 2,556. Between the last weekend in January and the end of President’s Day weekend, Force Awakens pulled in $20.44M. When all is said and done, I’m sure Sony would love to see this movie beating Avatar. 

More trumpeting for Sony: Ghostbusters: Afterlife is very close to passing Paul Feig’s all-femme 2016 edition, now at $128M. The movie is looking at a $715K in weekend 11, coming in at the No. 8 spot. Afterlife has roughly $350K left to go before it passes that Kristen Wiig-Kate McKinnon-Melissa McCarthy-Leslie Jones comedy.

Paramount/Spyglass Media’s Scream is eyeing a $6.65M third weekend, down 46%, in second place for a running total of $61.4M. The fifth title is pacing 14% behind Scream 2 and 12% behind Scream 3 at the same point in time, the former which passed $100M. The industry feeling is that this one will definitely fall shortd, despite being a profitable title for the Melrose Lot and Spyglass, and quite possibly short of Scream 3‘s $89M.

All quiet on the arthouse front:

IFC’s Adrien Brody action movie Clean, booked at 256 runs in 86 markets, earned around $60K Friday, for an estimated $175K weekend.

Neon’s documentary Gamestop: Rise of the Players, playing at 267 locations in 72 markets, saw an estimated $34K Friday, $102K weekend, for a theater average of $382. We hear Lincoln Square did a great $4K yesterday.

Woody Allen’s Rifkin’s Festival, a release by MPI Media Group, is day-and-date in theaters and PVOD. I would argue it’s not the filmmaker’s lowest grossing movie, that is, if you count A Rainy Day in New York, which didn’t register stateside grosses. The Wallace Shawn movie at 26 theaters in 20 markets did a lowly $6K on Friday, and is projected to see $18K for the weekend, for a theater average of $726.

Bleecker Street’s Sundown, from Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco, is in six venues in NY and LA at IFC Center, Lincoln Square, Alamo Drafthouse, Landmark Pico, AMC Sunset, and Alamo Drafthouse Downtown LA with an estimated 10K Friday, $33K weekend, for a $5,4K theater average.

1.) Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony) 3,675 (-30) theaters, Fri $2.75M (-19%)/3-day $10.4M (-26%)/Total $735.2M/Wk 7

2.) Scream (Par) 3,518 (-148) theaters Fri $2.05M (-45%)/3-day $6.65M (-46%), Total:  $61.4M/Wk 3

3.) Sing 2 (Uni/Ill) 3,434  (-147) theaters, Fri $1.02M (-19%)/3-day $4.78M (-17%)/Total: $134.4M/Wk 6

4.) Redeeming Love (Uni) 1,963 (+60) theaters, Fri $560K (-62%)/3-day $1.85M (-48%)/Total: $6.5M/Wk 2

5.) The King’s Man (20th/Dis) 2,440 (+125) theaters Fri $463K (-10%)/3-day $1.6M (-10%)/Total $33.9M/Wk 6

6.) The 355 (Uni/FilmNation) 2,513 (-96) theaters, Fri $370K (-20%)/ 3-day $1.29M (-19%)/Total $13M/Wk 4
The 355 is now available on PVOD.

7.) American Underdog (LG) 2,113 (-51) theaters, Fri $356K (-9%)/3-day: $1.1M (-5%)/Total: $24.7M/Wk 6

8.) Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Sony) 1,170 (+109) theatres, Fri $180K (+17%)/3-day $715K (+9%)/Total $128M/Wk 11

9.) Licorice Pizza (UAR) 772 theaters, Fri $185K (-10%)/3-day: $601K (-9%)Total $11.7M/Wk 10

10.)  West Side Story (20th/Dis) 1,335 (+55) theaters, Fri $165K (-15%)/3-day $592K (-17%)/Total $36M/Wk 8

11.) Nightmare Alley (Sea) 1,103 (+713) theaters Fri $155k (+142%), 3-day $524K (+130%)/Total: $10.3M/Wk 7
Guillermo del Toro noir expands its black and white version after an exclusive run in LA and NYC. There’s thre sold out Q+A’s this weekend in the 425 seat Aero theatre in Santa Monica. Three hundred locations are still playing the color version of the Bradley Cooper-Rooney Mara-Cate Blanchett movie.