Welcome to the weird world of theatrical movies, the weekly scramble to find a formula that fills seats. “Knock at the Cabin” returned Universal to #1 for the first time since October, despite several big hits including “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” and “M3GAN.”
“80 for Brady” closely followed, with most theaters (with Paramount’s encouragement) capping prices all day to matinee cost. It grossed $12.5 million, significantly above expectations, to take second place. After seven weeks at the top, “Avatar: The Way of Water” dropped to #3.
That meant three films over $10 million and its the first time that’s happened on this weekend since 2017. (This February weekend usually faces Super Bowl competition, which we’ll see next week.) In 2017, the #1 film was another M. Night Shylamalan title, “Split.” It also opened to $14 million; with today’s higher ticket prices, it would be around $17 million.
The industry hoped for a bigger “Cabin” (studio projections said otherwise), but it helped boost the weekend to its $79 million total. That’s 31 percent better than last year, and keeps the year-to-date total at better than 50 percent ahead of last year.
Box office still lags behind pre-Covid 2020, but at 83 percent it’s an improvement over most recent weeks. Our four-week running comparison to three years ago now rises to 77 percent.
“Knock at the Cabin”
©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection
Both “Knock” and “80” are lower-cost films ($20 million and $28 million, respectively) that theaters need on a steady basis along with genre blockbusters. Although marketing adds often as much or more to their budgets, domestic theater play (“Knock” will add some more foreign; that will be limited for “80”) should set up both for significant home appeal ahead.
That’s particularly important for “80.” Though it stars four major actresses (and a total of nearly 240 years combined since their film debuts — Rita Moreno first appeared in 1950!), the older demographic for this film would have suggested a streaming premiere. However, it’s critical that theaters attract the kind of crowd — 68 percent female, 49 percent over 55 — to supplement the standard younger core audience. It once again shows that an original film —and better yet, a comedy — is a significant success.
How much did the lower prices add to the interest? (“80” projects to having more tickets sold than “Knock”). Also unclear is whether this might extend to other titles or complicate future strategies. (The average price for a non-premium showing is now around $12 nationally).
The six core distributors only had eight of the top 20 films with event presentations contributing to the total. Concert film “BTS: Yet to Come in Cinemas” (Trafalagar) scored over $5 million in 1,111 theaters to take fifth place. The faith-based series “The Chosen: Season 3” (Fathom) did $3.6 million. The Indian “Pathaan” (Yash Raj), with a 61 percent drop, was #10.
“The Way of Water” is still decent, dropping 32 percent to just under $11 million and now at $636 million domestic. It loses a chunk of its premium screens next Friday when James Cameron’s own “Titanic” (Paramount) sees a major re-re-release.
“Puss” had the best hold, off only 24 percent, with parallel PVOD play ongoing. At #4, it passed the $150 million mark and now looks certain to top “Sing 2,” which is a real surprise and a sign of growing strength in the market.
Below the top 10, best is “The Amazing Maurice” (Viva), a European animated film which looks to do around $1.5 million, #12. Crunchyroll has another Japanese anime, “Sword Art Online: Progressive — Scherzo of Deep Night” with about $800,000 in 892 theaters. These aren’t great averages per theater, but these figures ultimately add to the total.
“Close”
In the specialized world, Belgian Oscar nominee “Close” (A24) had a decent initial expansion for a subtitled film. It had a $5,904 average in 20 theaters. Low by pre-Covid standards, but high-end since.
Other than “The Way of Water” and “Puss,” the best top Oscar nominee gross again was “Everything Everywhere Alla at Once” (A24), adding another $529,000. With this included, the added boost with all additional titles was under $2.5 million. “Women Talking” (United Artists) has yet to report, but appears to have grossed around $525,000, down from $970,000 last weekend.
Among new platform releases (including the acclaimed Icelandic “Godland”/Janus, a non-reporter), the U.S. premiere of the 1961 Italian “Una Vita Difficile” (Rialto) scored the top result. It grossed $8,500 at New York’s Film Forum.
The Top 10
1. Knock at the Cabin (Universal) NEW – Cinemascore: C; Metacritic: 63; Est. budget: $20 million
$14,200,000 in 3,643 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $3,898; Cumulative: $14,200,000
2. 80 for Brady (Paramount) NEW – Cinemascore: A-; Metacritic: 54; Est. budget: $28 million
$12,500,000 in 3,912 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $3,195; Cumulative: $12,500,000
3. Avatar: The Way of Water (Disney) Week 8; Last weekend #1
$10,800,000 (-32%) in 3,310 (-290) theaters; PTA: $2,104; Cumulative: $636.420,000
4. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Universal) Week 7; Last weekend #2; also on PVOD
$7,950,000 (-24%) in 3,290 (-162) theaters; PTA: $2,303; Cumulative: $151,293,000
5. BTS: Yet to Come in Cinemas (Trafalagar) NEW (note: Friday-Saturday only this weekend)
$4,996,000 in 1,125 theaters; PTA: $4,874; Cumulative: $7,840,000
6. The Chosen Season 3 Finale (Fathom) NEW
$3,462,000 in 1,975 theaters; PTA: $2,104; Cumulative: $5,308,000
7. A Man Called Otto (Sony) Week 6; Last weekend #3
$4,175,000 (-37%) in 3,407 (-550) theaters; PTA: $1,225; Cumulative: $53,003,000
8. M3GAN (Universal) Week 5; Last weekend #5; also on PVOD
$3,800,000 (-39%) in 2,835 (-581) theaters; PTA: $1,340; Cumulative: $87,597,000
9. Missing (Sony) Week 3; Last weekend #6
$3,725,000 (-34%) in 2,565 (-460) theaters; PTA: $1,452; Cumulative: $23,017,000
10. Pathaan (Yash Raj) Week 2; Last weekend #3
$(est.) 2,700,000 (-61%) in 700 (+5) theaters; PTA: $3,857; Cumulative: $11,670,000
Other Specialized titles
Films (limited, expansions of limited, as well as awards-oriented releases) are listed by week in release, starting with those opened this week; after the first two weeks, only films with grosses over $5,000 are tracked.
The Amazing Maurice (Viva) NEW
$1,544,000 in 1,679 theaters; PTA: $920
Sword Art Online: Progressive — Scherzo of Deep Night (Cruchyroll)
$(est.) 800,000 in 892 theaters; PTA: $897
Full Time (Music Box) NEW – Metacritic: 83; Festivals include: Venice 2021, New Directors/New Films 2022
$2,139 in 1 theater; PTA: $2,139
Let It Be Morning (Cohen) NEW – Metacritic: 78; Festivals include: Cannes 2021
$6,023 in 2 theaters; PTA: $3,012
Una Vita Difficile (Rialto) (reissue)
$8,500 in 1 theater; PTA: $8,500
Infinity Pool (Neon) Week 2
$900,000 in 1,750 theaters; PTA: $514; Cumulative: $4,332,000
The Wandering Earth 2 (Well Go) Week 2
$ in 180 (+10) theaters; PTA: $; Cumulative: $
Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist (Fathom) Week 2
$195,697 in 352 (-1.055) theaters; PTA: $556; Cumulative: $3,582,000
Close (A24) Week 2
$118,071 in 19 (+15) theaters; PTA: $202,493
One Fine Morning (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 2
$18,018 in 12 (+9) theaters; PTA: $; Cumulative: $49,313
Maybe I Do (Vertical) Week 2 465
$210,000 in 389 (-76) theaters; PTA: $1,003,000
Skinamarink (IFC) Week 4
$36,000 in 62 (-213) theaters; Cumulative: $1,985,000
Turn Every Page (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 6
$20,420 in 15 (-5) theaters; Cumulative: $187,389
Living (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 7
$341,362 in 410 (-234) theaters; Cumulative: $1,630,000
The Whale (A24) Week 9
$421,934 in 1,015 (-706) theaters; Cumulative: $15,764,000
The Fabelmans (Universal) Week 12; also on PVOD
$ in 1,054 (-908) theaters; Cumulative: $
Aftersun (A24) Week 16; also on VOD
$27,539 in 25 (no change) theaters; Cumulative: $1,165,000
The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight) Week 16; also on HBO Max and VOD
$100,000 in 410 (-695) theaters; Cumulative: $10,140,000
TÁR (Focus) Week 17; also on Peacock and VOD
$91,000 in 71 (-4) theaters; Cumulative: $6,338,000
Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24) Week 46; also on PVOD
$528,928 in 935 (-465) theaters; Cumulative: $72,015,000
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