With no wide theatrical releases, a new COVID wave, talk of a looming recession and the busy Christmas shopping period, movies are low on the list of priorities for people it seems.
The entire North American weekend box-office for Friday-Sunday is reportedly set to come in at around $37.2 million – the second-lowest box-office weekend of the year and could potentially come in under the $34.9 million taken in by the lowest weekend back in late January.
The failure of Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” in this release slot last year sent shivers through many studios who have opted not to repeat the mistake this year. In fact, no studio is even risking an early December release next year at present with the first two weekends absolutely clear.
In its fifth weekend, Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is on track to win the weekend and earn $11 million. It will pass $401 million – coming in just ahead of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” at the same time in its cycle.
Darkly comedic action film “Violent Night” is set to drop only 40% in its second outing with a further $8 million added to its Santa’s sack which is bulging at $26.4 million – already surpassing its $20 million budget.
In third will be Disney’s animated “Strange World” which will take in a further $3.6 million and a total of $30 million so far domestically. “The Menu” will be fourth with $2.8 million and the wartime drama “Devotion” is fifth with $1.9 million.
In limited release, Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale” starring Brendan Fraser is on track to earn the best theater average of 2022 with $60,000 per screen across six screens. Though Fraser’s performance has been highly acclaimed, the film’s 67% mark on Rotten Tomatoes suggests the film surrounding him isn’t up to that level.
Faring not so well is Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light” which was panned by critics and is only on track for a $177,600 opening weekend across 110 cinema screens.
Everything is in readiness for the arrival of “Avatar: The Way of Water” next weekend with the film on track for a potential $200 million domestic start.
