“Wonder Woman 1984” may have been the first to try the simultaneous theatrical and HBO Max release strategy, but this weekend saw a better example of it at work.
The Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto-led psychological thriller “The Little Things” opened to mixed-poor reviews. Penned originally in the 1990s, the mid-budget R-rated film is akin to movies of that era and a kind of filmmaking once ubiquitous but now rarely in cinemas anymore.
Those kind of films are also consistent performers and it shows with the film topping the U.S. domestic box-office with $4.8 million from 2,171 venues in North America. That’s one of the stronger COVID-era opening weekends and the best R-rated opening of the past near year or so.
Take into account that is with the movie also being available simultaneously on HBO Max and with many cinemas in the U.S. still closed or at very limited capacity. WarnerMedia says the film “immediately shot up to No. 1” on HBO Max but it’s not clear what numbers it did.
The film also made a further $2.8 million from eighteen overseas territories where it opened theatrically – $1.1 million of that coming from Russia. “The Croods: A New Age” was second with a further $1.84 million, while “Wonder Woman 1984” was in third place with $1.3 million, “The Marksman” in fourth with $1.25 million, and “Monster Hunter” in fifth with $740,000.
Source: Variety
