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MONDAY AM: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania wound up hitting its $120M tracking projection from four weeks ago. Disney believes this AM that the Peyton Reed Marvel Studios movie will get there. Sunday was higher at $25.7M than the expected $24.2M and Monday is on track for $14.5M for a $120M result. 3-day revised is $105.5M. Some rivals think Ant-Man 3 can overshoot to $121M-$123M. Still, tepid exits arguably didn’t slow this movie down. Again, result here for the threequel is the best opening in the Ant-Man franchise ever, and the third best opening for February and Presidents Day weekend behind 4-days of 2018’s Black Panther ($242.1M) and Deadpool ($152.1M).
Next weekend, Universal has the campy crime film Cocaine Bear directed by Elizabeth Banks which is looking at the high teens, Lionsgate has the Jon Erwin and Brent McCorkle directed movie Jesus Revolution while Warner Bros has the kids movie Mummies. Expect Ant-Man 3 to continue to rule, the previous installment, Ant-Man and the Wasp declining 62% in weekend 2. If Ant-Man 3 takes a similar path, it will wind up with a $40M second frame.
The 3-day of this past weekend for all films per Comscore was $139.9M, +48% from the same weekend a year ago.
Updated chart:
1.) Ant-man and the Wasp Quantumania (Dis) 4,345 theaters, Fri $46M, Sat $33.8M Sun $25.7M Mon $14.5M 3-day $105.5M, 4-day $120M/Wk 1
2.) Avatar: The Way of Water (Dis) 2,675 theaters (-390), Fri $1.35M (-21%), Sat $2.7M Sun $2.3M Mon $1.44M 3-day $6.45M (-10%),4-day $7.899M Total $658.8M /Wk 10
3.) Puss in Boots: Last Wish (Uni) 3,012 theaters (-215), Fri $1.2M (-8%) Sat $2.26M Sun $1.83M Mon $1.75M 3-day $5.3M (-5%), 4-day $7.05M Total $167.8M/Wk 9
The DreamWorks Animation movie is the easily the highest grossing of this year’s Oscar animated pics (technically one of two to get a theatrical release). The pic crossed the $400M global mark last week (now at $421M), becoming the third biggest MPA animated title since the pandemic. The film surpassed the international ($224.8M) and global box office ($392.9M) of Black Adam to become the tenth biggest MPA release of 2022 Internationally and 9th biggest worldwide. Universal has delivered five of the top six highest-grossing MPA animated titles globally since the onset of the pandemic including Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru ($939.6M) and Sing 2 ($408.3M) and DreamWorks Animation’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Bad Guys ($250.1M) and Croods: A New Age ($215.9M).
4.) Magic Mike’s Last Dance (WB) 3034 (+1538) theaters, Fri $1.7M (-59%) Sat $2.15M Sun $1.6M 3-day $5.46M (-34%), 4-day $6.26M, total $18.85M/Wk 2
5.) Knock at the Cabin (Uni) 2,601 (-1056) theaters, Fri $1M (-41%), Sat $1.7M Sun $1.24M Mon $620K 3-day $3.97M (-27%),4-day $4.59M Total $31M /Wk 3
6.) 80 for Brady (Par) 3,119 (-820) theaters, Fri $990K (-46%)Sat $1.5M Sun $1.22M Mon $750K 3-day $3.75M (-35%), 4-day $4.5M/Total $33.1M/Wk 3
7.) Titanic (Par) 2,132 theaters (-332), Fri $620K (-77%), Sat $955K Sun $835K Mon $490K 3-day $2.4M (-64%), 4-day $2.9M, Total $13M/Wk 2
8.) Marlowe (Briarcliff) 2281 theaters, Fri $540K,Sat $760K Sun $500 Mon $300K 3-day $1.8M 4-day $2.1M Total $2.86M/Wk 1
9.) Missing (Sony) 1,516 (-799) theaters, Fri $425K (-40%), Sat $760K Sun $565K Mon $320K 3 day $1.75M (-31%) 4 day $2.07M Total $30M/Wk 5
10.) A Man Called Otto (Sony) 1,725 (-1,099) theaters, Fri $407K Sat $692K Sun $501K $285K Mon 3-day $1.6M (-38%) 4-day $1.88M Total $60.9M/Wk 8
SUNDAY WRITETHRU After Saturday PM update: Disney/Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania notched a $33.8M Saturday, -27% from Friday+previews $46M, which will get the Peyton Reed- directed threequel to a $104M 3-day, $118M 4-day, per Disney this AM. Per box office analytics corp EntTelligence, Ant-Man 3 pulled in 7M admissions this past weekend, more than doubling Uncharted‘s admissions a year ago.
Saturday’s ease is better, percent- wise, than the Friday-to-Saturday hold for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (-36%), Thor: Love and Thunder (-40%) and not far from Eternals (-22%). The first two movies were rated B+ by moviegoers, while Eternals has a B, which is what Ant-Man 3 received.
Clearly those sour reviews and lukewarm audience exits aren’t impacting want-to-see, the draw here being Jonathan Majors’ new MCU bad guy Kang the Conqueror in one sheets, trailers, and even a new walk-around character at the parks. Disney made that character the epicenter of its marketing campaign here for Ant-Man 3, and the spoils of that are being seen in the threequel’s record franchise U.S./Canada opening, which is 44% higher than 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp‘s $75.8M opening.
Disney will be in more business with Majors outside the MCU: As Deadline first told you, sister arthouse label Searchlight recently acquired the actor’s tour-de-force drama Magazine Dreams out of Sundance, in which he plays a disturbed amateur bodybuilder; a pic that will be positioned for the next awards season.
Box Office analytics corp EntTelligence shows that Ant-Man 3 was an exhibitor’s dream, playing largely evenly to all dayparts throughout the day, read 20% of all admissions before 1pm, 32% between 1p-5p, 24% between 5p-8p and 24% after 8pm. The average ticket price for Ant-Man 3 was $13.98 to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘s $13.61. Those in NYC shelled out an average of $17.20 to see the Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Majors movie, while in L.A., the going price was $15.50. Top markets in regards to admissions, not box office, for the latest MCU title per EntTelligence were L.A., NYC, Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, Phoenix, Houston, Philly and DC.
Imax auditoriums minted $12.2M stateside for Ant-Man 3, 10% of the pic’s 4-day take, which doubles the debut of Ant-Man and the Wasp, which had an Imax opening of $6M.The domestic Imax opening for Ant-Man 3 makes it third-best for the Presidents Day holiday, behind Black Panther and Deadpool.
iSpot estimates that Disney shelled out $23M in U.S. TV spots to promote Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which is around the same spend for Avatar: The Way of Water, a bit ahead of Spider-Man: No Way Home ($21.6M), and slightly under Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($27.1M), yet way ahead of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($17.7M) and Thor: Love and Thunder ($15.2M).
Those spots yielded 1.31 billion impressions across ABC, ESPN, Fox, FX, and NatGeo. Ant-Man 3 spots aired during NFL games, NBA games, SportsCenter, Good Morning America and SpongeBob Squarepants. Disney capitalized on its ABC synergy with custom content and a special look of Ant-Man 3 on their hit show Abott Elementary.
Disney Channel’s Secrets of Sulphur Springs stars interviewed pic’s star Kathryn Newton and Freeform ran broadcast/digital/social content featuring cast interviews. On NBC, there was a sponsorship and special look during the new Quantum Leap episode. On Adult Swim, there were irreverent custom cards & clips.
Disney had blitz days for Ant-Man 3 targeting women (moms are the drivers on family pics such as these) with paid digital support on Bustle, Elite Daily, TikTok, Hulu, Spotify, and Popsugar takeovers. Broadcast spots also included such femme heavy channels as Bravo, E! and MTV. For multicultural audiences, blitz days included takeovers and videos on mitú, Essence, The Grio, Complex, and broadcast on Telemundo and Univision. Disney went after families with an Alexa home screen takeover, and broadcast on The Masked Singer and America’s Got Talent All Stars.
But there were also several promo-partner cobranded Quantumania spots. In total, I hear it’s the biggest promo-partner campaign for an Ant-Man movie.
Heineken made a cross promo splash, which iSpot estimates at a $19.3M spend, which pulled in 967M TV ad impressions. Heineken’s repped the first Marvel Studios promotional partnership in the nonalcoholic beer category. The campaign kicked off with two major events with Dry January leading up to Super Bowl. The spot was also the first nonalcoholic beer for a :30 TV placement in-game.
Volkswagen touted their new all electric ID.4 vehicle:
Inspired by the workplaces of the MCU, ZipRecruiter’s spot centered around the PymVanDyne Foundation. iSpot estimates a $325K spend here which grabbed 55M TV ad impressions.
TaxAct had its first entertainment partnership with Quantumania, with its spokesperson “April” on TV and digital. Overall a $209K TV spot spend per iSpot, with 62M TV ad impressions.
Marvel Studios’ first partnership with IHOP offered fans the chance to receive a movie ticket with support in-restaurant/TV/digital. iSpot estimates that the IHOP campaign was worth a $1.2M spend that nabbed 288M impressions.
You’ll remember the whole campaign for Ant-Man 3 fired off at the return-to-in-person San Diego Comic-Con, where the first trailer was dropped exclusively for those in Hall H. The pic’s stars continued on to Brazil’s Comic Con Experience 2022 (CCXP) (Dec. 1) and D23 Expo (Sept. 10).
In an early Comscore read, the 2023 box office is approaching $1 billion. By EOD Monday, it’s estimated to hit $994.1M, which is a roaring 53% ahead of the same Jan. 1-Feb. 20 period last year.
Numbers as of Sunday AM:
1.) Ant-man and the Wasp Quantumania (Dis) 4,345 theaters, Fri $46M, Sat $33.8M Sun $24.2M Mon $14M 3-day $104M, 4-day $118M/Wk 1
2.) Avatar: The Way of Water (Dis) 2,675 theaters (-390), Fri $1.35M (-21%), Sat $2.7M Sun $1.9M Mon $1.38M 3-day $6.1M (-15%),4-day $7.5M Total $658.4M /Wk 10
3.) Puss in Boots: Last Wish (Uni) 3,012 theaters (-215), Fri $1.2M (-8%) Sat $2.25M Sun $1.8M Mon $1.7M 3-day $5.26M (-6%), 4-day $6.97M Total $167.7M/Wk 9
4.) Magic Mike’s Last Dance (WB) 3034 (+1538) theaters, Fri $1.7M (-59%) Sat $2.1M Sun $1.6M 3-day $5.525M (-33%), 4-day $6.3M, total $18.9M/Wk 2
5.) Knock at the Cabin (Uni) 2,601 (-1056) theaters, Fri $1M (-41%), Sat $1.7M Sun $1.19M Mon $590K 3-day $3.9M (-28%),4-day $4.49M Total $30.96M /Wk 3
6.) 80 for Brady (Par) 3,119 (-820) theaters, Fri $990K (-46%)Sat $1.5M Sun $1.07M Mon $650K 3-day $3.6M (-38%), 4-day $4.25M/Total $32.8M/Wk 3
7.) Titanic (Par) 2,132 theaters (-332), Fri $620K (-77%), Sat $955K Sun $715K Mon $430K 3-day $2.29M (-66%), 4-day $2.7M, Total $12.8M/Wk 2
8.) Marlowe (Briarcliff) 2281 theaters, Fri $540K,Sat $760K Sun $610K Mon $350K 3-day $1.9M 4-day $2.26M Total $3M/Wk 1
9.) Missing (Sony) 1,516 (-799) theaters, Fri $425K (-40%), Sat $760K Sun $540K Mon $300K 3 day $1.72M (-32%) 4 day $2.025M Total $29.9M/Wk 5
10.) A Man Called Otto (Sony) 1,725 (-1,099) theaters, Fri $400K (-50%) Sat $683K Sun $517K $300K Mon 3-day $1.6M (-38%) 4-day $1.9M Total $60.9M/Wk 8
Notables:
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey (Fath) Fri $202K, Sat $272K Sun $204K 3-day $679,2K 4-day $750K Total $1.58M/Wk 1
Of an Age (Foc) 289 theaters, Fri $190K, Sat $120K, Sun $96K, Mon $48K, 3-day $406K, 4-day $455K/Wk 1
Emily (BST) 5 theaters Fri $15,7K Sat $13,2K Sun $11,2K Mon $6,7K 3-day $40,1K 4-day $46,8K/Wk 1
SATURDAY AM: Marvel Studios once again is putting the weekend box office back at pre-pandemic levels, with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania minting $46M Friday (including Thursday’s $17.5M) — the third-highest opening day in February after Black Panther ($75.9M, 2018) and Deadpool ($47.3M, 2016) — for what is still shaping up to be a $100M weekend, with 4-day at $115M.
Rivals have the Peyton Reed-directed sequel much higher, with a 4-day in the $125M-$134M range, Sunday business always being a swing factor. As we figured, very strong walk-up business here, with 62% of the audience either buying their ticket the day before or the day-of. The third-best opening ever for February and Presidents Day weekend and the best debut ever for the Ant-Man franchise — who can complain about that?
All of this spells a 4-day weekend where all films are estimated to make $172.6M, which is an amazing 13% ahead of 2019’s pre-pandemic Presidents Day weekend and 55% ahead of last year’s February holiday, when Sony opened Uncharted.
Essentially, dollars are beating audience exits (B CinemaScore here for Ant-Man 3, Comscore/Screen Engine PostTrak still at 3.5 stars and 75%) and critical scores of 47% — similar to the lows that Eternals hit in 2021. The difference here for fans: Ant-Man 3 has the new MCU villain Kang the Conqueror, while Eternals was impossible to understand. In PostTrak exits, 25% audience said they came out for Jonathan Majors’ Kang, while 54% said it’s part of a franchise they love and 41% because it’s a Marvel movie.
Updated demos show 65% guys overall, 64% between 18-34 and a diverse crowd of 34% Caucasian, 31% Latino and Hispanic, 17% Black and 12% Asian, with men over 25 (39%) leading men under 25 (25%), women over 25 (20%) and women under 25 (15%). Those who came with either a kid or parent repped 24% of the audience, while 18% came with a friend, 17% with two to four friends and 11% with a date.
Imax and PLFs are driving 43% of Ant-Man 3‘s business — note to industry, install more premium screens if you want the box office to go up, given the big inventory of tentpole films coming down the pike. The Disney/Marvel movie overindexed in the West, where six of the top 10 runs came from (though the movie has superpowers everywhere).
We’re building the chart.
1.) Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Dis) 4,345 theaters, Fri $46M, 3-day $100M, 4-day $115M/Wk 1
2.) Avatar: The Way of Water (Dis) 2,675 theaters (-390), Fri $1.35M (-21%), 3-day $6.3M (-13%),4-day $7.7M Total $658.3M /Wk 10
3.) Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Uni) 3,012 theaters (-215), Fri $1.2M (-8%) 3-day $5.35M (-4%), 4-day $7.1M Total $167.9M/Wk 9
4.) Magic Mike’s Last Dance (WB) 3034 (+1538) theaters, Fri $1.66M (-60%) 3-day $5.64M (-31%), 4-day $6.5M, total $19M/Wk 2
5.) 80 for Brady (Par) 3,119 (-820) theaters, Fri $990K (-46%) 3-day $3.77M (-35%), 4-day $4.45M/Total $33M/Wk 3
6.) Knock at the Cabin (Uni) 2,601 (-1056) theaters, Fri $1M (-41%), 3-day $3.75M (-31%),4-day $4.3M Total $30.7M /Wk 3
7.) Titanic (Par) 2,132 theaters (-332), Fri $620K (-77%), 3-day $2.3M (-66%), 4-day $2.73M, Total $12.8M/Wk 2
8.) Missing (Sony) 1,516 (-799) theaters, Fri $425K (-40%), 3 day $1.61M (-37%) 4 day $1.875M Total $29.8M/Wk 5
9.) Marlowe (Briarcliff) 2281 theaters, Fri $540K, 3-day $1.84M 4-day $2.18M Total $2.94M/Wk 1
Liam Neeson’s 100th film isn’t wowing with a 6-day total under $3M. It’s period, which is always a challenge, and a left hook to his dude crowd who expect him in a gun-toting modern-day film. Overall PostTrak score was an awful 51% positive, 27% recommend. The Honest Thief, from Neeson and Briarcliff, opened during the pandemic sans competition and NYC and LA closed debuting to $4.1M (and ultimately $14.1M stateside). The Markmans opened to $3.1M and ended its run at $15.5M. It’s 53% guys showing up for Marlowe, 72% over 35, 50% over 45, and 32% over 55. The Neil Jordan-directed film noir’s best grosses were in the South, Midwest and West (with four of the top 10 coming from Phoenix and two more from Hawaii).
10.) A Man Called Otto (Sony) 1,725 (-1099) theaters, Fri $400K (-50%), 3-day $1.6M (-38%) 4-day $1.9M Total $60.9M /Wk 8
Notables:
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey (Fath) Fri $202K, 3-day $677K 4-day $780K Total $1.6M/Wk 1
No, critics weren’t impressed with the slasher film at 9%, and audiences were middling at 58% on Rotten Tomatoes. The other niche slasher pic, Terrifier 2, from this past fall opened to $1M at 770 theaters and legged out to $10.6M. Given the rebellious cult appeal of this movie, it’s not clear if Winnie will have those type of legs.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON: Disney/Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is headed to being the third highest opening for Presidents Day weekend as well as February. While 4-day estimates are wild between $115M-$125M, today is shaping up to be around $44M (that includes last night’s $17.5M) for a 3-day at $100M at 4,345 theaters. These are industry estimates.
Top 3-days of February and Presidents Day are Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther ($202M) and 20th Century Fox/Marvel’s Deadpool ($132.4M).
Early PostTrak exits from last night were 75% positive, 3 1/2 stars with a 60% recommend, tougher than the usual Marvel Thursday night crowd. 90% of the crowd were non-family audiences, while 10% were families. Parents and kids are 12 scored Quantumania much higher at 4 1/2 and 5 stars respectively. Thursday night’s general crowd was comprised of 66% men, 34% female with men over 25 at 43% (73% grade), men under 25 at 24% (72% grade), women under 25 at 15% (79% grade) and women over 25 at 19% (giving the pic its highest grade of 80%). Diversity turnout was 36% Caucasian, 30% Latin and Hispanic, Black 18% and Asian 11%. Among the under 12 set, more boys than girls at 67% to 33%. We’ll have more updates of these exits.
Social Media stat org RelishMix beams, “Convo on Quantumania covers enormous tonal ground with positivity from the MCU for Paul Rudd, The Wasp, Kang, Michael Douglas — and fans talking about the teaser for the next Avengers and mentions of Spider-Man and how Ant-Man is now at the top of the ranking of Marvel heroes. Hardcores and cynics not only have questions on timecode flash frames, but they also speak to fans’ questions in threads as a ‘customer service’ for the film and the brand.”
Pre-release and across social media, awareness stats on Quantumania were 2X over 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, now inline with superhero averages counting 722.4M across YouTube views, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter nearing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (741M SMU/$187.4M opening) and Captain Marvel (720M/$153.4M opening). Engagement is driven most by YouTube views at +300M plus strong views on Instagram. Cross-promotional super-powers are amplified by both Marvel Studios at 61M with Marvel Entertainment at 144M along with the strong existing pages for Ant-Man at 3.2M. Also note that Ant-Man ran a Heineken co-op spot in the Super Bowl and clocked 87.9M views in 24-hours after the game — just behind Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Flash and Fast-X.
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The rest of the top five includes Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish at 2,675 with a robust ninth weekend of $6.4M over 3 (+15%) and $8.5M over 4 days getting the animated sequel to $169.3M, beating last year’s domestic final of Sing 2 ($162.7M). The pic’s Friday is $1.45M. Great timing: Puss in Boots 2 is nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars.
Third belongs to the tenth weekend of 20th/Lightstorm/Disney’s Avatar: The Way of Water at 2,675 locations with a $1.4M Friday, with a $6.5M 3-day (-10%), 4 day of $8.1M, running total of $659M which will make the James Cameron directed movie the 9th highest of all-time on the domestic box office list.
Fourth is Warner Bros.’ second weekend of Magic Mike’s Last Dance at 3,034 with a $1.5M Friday, 3 day of $4.7M (-43%), 4-day of $5.4M and running total just under $18M.
Paramount’s 80 for Brady is fifth at 3,119 with a third Friday of $1.05M, 3-day of $4M (-31%) 4-day of $4.7M and running total of $33.3M.
UPDATE after EXCLUSIVE: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s Thursday came in at $17.5M per Disney, $500K ahead of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2‘s previews in 2017.
That figure also is ahead the previews for last year’s Avatar: The Way of Water ($17M, $134M opening), about the same as Jurassic World: Dominion ($18M, $145M opening) and not far from Top Gun: Maverick ($19M opening and $127M 3-day).
Quantumania‘s preview number also leads 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok ($15M Thursday, $123M opening), 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp ($12M previews, $76M 3 day) and 2015’s Ant-Man ($6M, $57M 3-day).
Internationally, Thursday saw Quantumania open in a 26 additional material markets, including Australia, Brazil and Mexico, taking the full total to 43 to date, and the first two days have seen it earn an estimated $23.8M abroad. Nancy will have more later in our international update.
PREVIOUS EXCLUSIVE: We’re hearing from box office sources that Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania zoomed to a $17M-$18M last night in previews from showtimes that started at 3 p.m. That figure, which could be higher or lower once Disney officially reports later this morning, is where Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2‘s Thursday night was back in 2017, at $17M.
The Thursday night previews for Marvel’s crop last year were Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($36M), Thor: Love & Thunder ($29M) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($28M).
Industry projections have the 4-day for Quantumania at $120M, but Disney thinks it’s between $105M-$110M. Nonetheless, the threequel is bound to set an opening record for the Ant-Man franchise and be the third-best Presidents Day opening ever after 2018’s Black Panther ($242.1M) and 2016’s Deadpool ($152.1M). Advance ticket sales earlier this week were tracking 15% behind Thor: Love and Thunder, which opened to $144.1M.
That said, according to Boxoffice Pulse data, Quantumania is outpacing the first two Ant-Man movies in presales and showtimes and is well-positioned to be the top-selling February release since 2018’s Black Panther. The film lands at 3,500-plus locations with more than 50K showtimes programmed throughout the weekend, according to The Boxoffice Company, which powers showtimes and ticketing for Google, IMDb, Bing, TikTok, Apple and many others.
Critics have been unusually cruel on this Marvel movie, giving it 48% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is very close to where Eternals was at 47%. However, Quantumania could prove to be Teflon to reviews, the walk-up factor here is the new MCU villain Kang the Conqueror, played by Jonathan Majors and first introduced as a variant in Disney+/Marvel Studios’ Loki. RT audience meter is currently at 84%, which is higher than Thor: Love and Thunder (77%) and Ant-Man and the Wasp (80%) and near Ant-Man (85%), despite those latter movies have better reviews at 87% and 83%, respectively.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2‘s Thursday repped 30% of its first day Friday which was $56M before opening to $146.5M.
Ant-Man 3‘s Thursday night figures are from industry sources, not Disney.
We stand corrected: There is another wide release this weekend and it’s Briarcliff’s 100th Liam Neeson movie Marlowe, which opened Wednesday at 2,281 to $550K and fell 62% on Thursday to $210K for a running total of $760K. Neeson plays the famed Raymond Chandler detective Philip Marlowe in a movie that’s directed by Neil Jordan and penned by The Departed‘s Oscar winning screenwriter William Monahan. Set in late-1930s Bay City, Marlowe is hired to find the ex-lover of a glamorous heiress (Diane Kruger), who is the daughter of a well-known movie star (Jessica Lange). The disappearance is the first twist in a series of bewildering events, and soon Marlowe is embroiled in a deadly investigation and web of lies that he’s determined to bring to light. Critics hate the movie at 25% Rotten.
Also taking advantage of the slow midweek before Quantumania is Fathom Events with the British slasher Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey at 1,700 runs. Wednesday was estimated to be $765K, with Thursday at $129K (-14%) for a two-day take of $894K, and that’s off a production cost that’s reportedly less than $100K. Directed and written by Rhys Frake-Waterfield, the pic follows the end of days of merriment as Christopher Robin, now a young man, has left Winnie-The-Pooh and Piglet to fend for themselves. As time passes, feeling angry and abandoned, the two become feral. After getting a taste for blood, Pooh and Piglet set off to find a new source of food. It’s not long before their bloody rampage begins (watch the trailer below). Critics don’t know what to do with themselves on this one, having graded it 9% on RT, but that’s only off 22 reviews. Terrifier 2, another cult horror pic, did $10.6M last fall off a $250K production cost and ultimate 1,5K-plus theater break.
Among regular pics in release, Warner Bros. HBO Max title Magic Mike’s Last Dance ends Week 1 with an estimated $12.5M after a $709K Thursday, -13% from Wednesday at an updated 2,176 locations.
Paramount’s 80 for Brady was second on Thursday with $657K (-17%), a second week of $9.7M, running total of $28.6M at 3,939 theaters.
20th Century Studios/Lightstorm/Disney’s Avatar: The Way of Water saw $530K on Thursday, -24%, a ninth week of $10.9M and running total of $650.9M at 3,065. The pic is poised to become the ninth-highest-grossing movie ever at the domestic box office this weekend, surpassing 2015’s Jurassic World ($653.4M).
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Universal’s Knock at the Cabin booked at 3,657 had a second week of $8.5M, running total of $26.4M and Thursday of $445K, -13%.
Fifth belonged to Paramount’s 25th anniversary edition of Titanic at 2,464 locations, which did an estimated $394K, -37%, on Thursday for a first week of $10.1M. The lifetime running total is currently $669.4M.