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Sony‘s sequel to Jason Reitman’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, took in $4.7M from previews last night that began at 2PM at 3,561 theaters.
That amount of money is close to the $4.5M previews of Ghostbusters: Afterlife which opened heading into the pre-Thanksgiving 2021 frame when audiences were still shaking off Covid fears. Last night’s cash is also higher than the previews of Paul Feig’s 2016 all female Ghostbusters which did $3.4M (and opened to $46M). Those showtimes began at 4PM and resulted in a $16.6M Friday, $44M opening weekend. I’m told from sources that Frozen Empire will require a lot of walk-up business to get to that level as presales for some exhibitors were low.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire received 4 stars from the Thursday night audience, which is always filled with die-hard fans, 80% positive and a 66% definite recommend. Mostly men who showed up at 55%, who were the pic’s harshest critics at 76% positive, with women at 45% with a better 85% grade. Breaking that down, men over 25, who was last night’s biggest quad at 43%, gave the movie a 79% grade while men under 25, who repped 12% of ticketbuyers, loathed the movie at 68%. On Afterlife, families and the middle of the country propped grosses. Close to a third of the audience of Afterlife were families with parents awarding that movie five stars with kids under 12 at 4 1/2. Rotten Tomatoes critics gave Afterlife, which was directed by Jason Reitman, 64% positive while audiences graded it 94%. Frozen Empire out of the gate is lower with 45% Rotten in reviews, and 86% with RT audiences.
Directed by Gil Kenan, the writer of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the sequel cost a $100M. This Ghostbusters will easily put the franchise, now at five movies, over $1 billion. That may or may not be this weekend as Frozen Empire could underperform.
We’re waiting on previews figures for NEON’s Sydney Sweeney movie, Immaculate, but in the meantime, PostTrak audiences didn’t like it last night at 2 1/2 stars and 60% positive. Critics didn’t mind it at 78% positive. We’re seeing projections now for the nun horror movie, which world premiered out of SXSW, in the mid-single digits.
Legendary/Warner Bros’ Dune: Part Two won the night among regular releases with $2.2M at 3,847, -23% from Wednesday and a third week of $39.5M and running total of $215.7M. The pic will keep its Imax screens into weekend 4, sharing them with Frozen Empire.
Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4 at 4,067 sites made $1.7M, -10% from Wednesday, for a second week of $38.7M and running total of $116.4M.
Fathom busted its way into the chart mid-week with two releases: the faith-based documentary, The Ark and the Darkness, which did $750K on Wednesday and another $955K yesterday for a running total of $1.7M at 1,010 theaters. Ralph Stearn directed docu centers around Noah’s Ark, and scientific evidence supporting the Biblical tale.
Fathom also had the remastered Hal Needham directed 1986 BMX movie, Rad, booked at 707 locations and it did $508K yesterday.
Lionsgate/eOne’s Mark Wahlberg canine sports film, Arthur the King, playing at 3,003 theaters, did an estimated $477K yesterday, -13% from Wednesday, ending its first week with $10.2M.
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