Both of the top two box-office winners this week were also released for home viewing. Space Jam: A New Legacy opened this weekend and knocked Black Widow right out of the top spot and it was also released to subscribers of HBOMax for no additional cost.
This week’s #2, Black Widow was also released on Disney+ Premium access, which costs each account holder an additional $29.99 on top of the DIsney+ subscription fee.
Even after all the drama surrounding Pepe le Pew and the “desexualization” of Lola Bunny in Space Jam, a surprising amount of people ran out to the theaters to watch LeBron James and the looniest of toons give Warner Bros. their best post-pandemic opening since Godzilla vs. Kong, earning $31.6 million and taking the number one spot at the box office from Scar Jo’s Black Widow.
Black Widow faced an alarming 67% drop from week one to week two and The National Association of Theater Owners is not happy, blaming the dramatic drop on Disney’s choice to simultaneously release Black Widow into theaters and onto Disney+ Premier Access.
Over the course of its second weekend in theaters, Black Widow collected just $26 million at the domestic box office. While this 67% drop is record-breaking in itself, it’s not too far off from Marvel’s previous week 2 drops. Since 2015, the last 12 MCU releases had second-weekend drops from Black Panther with a 45 percent drop to Ant-Man and the Wasp and Spider-Man: Homecoming which both saw a 62 percent drop.
Disney reverted to their previous reporting and added no new data on the Black Widow PVOD revenues. The 10-day domestic take is $132 million, about $23 million less than A Quiet Place Part II (Paramount) which dropped from #5 to #7 in its 8th week and F9 (Universal) which dropped from #2 to #4 in its 4th week. It should top both, though not by a huge margin.
That would mean around $180 million, plus its domestic PVOD result. Even when combining home and theatrical revenue, it will more than likely land at the lower end of Marvel releases, however still above Ant-Man and the Wasp, which is the lowest recent Disney MCU release history ($218 million domestic in 2018).
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (Sony) placed third with $8.8 million. That’s just under half of its predecessor in early 2019. Boss Baby: Family Business and The Forever Purge, both Universal and both in their second weeks, dropped in the mid-40 percent range.
In its 8th week at the box office, Cruella is steadily working its way down the top ten list from #6 down to #9.
Two specialized films made the top 10 in under 1,000 theaters. Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (Focus) placed #8 with $1.9 million in 945 theaters and Neon opened Pig with Nicolas Cage, also theater exclusive, and took 10th place with $945,000 in 550 theaters.
1. Space Jam: A New Legacy (Warner Bros.) NEW – Cinemascore: A-; Metacritic: 36; Est. budget: $150 million; also on HBO Max
$31,650,000 in 3,965 theaters; PTA: $7,982; Cumulative: $31,650,00
2. Black Widow (Disney) Week 2; Last weekend #1; also on Premium VOD at Disney+
$26,251,000 (-67%) in 4,275 theaters (+115); PTA: $6,142; Cumulative: $132,013,000
3. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (Sony) NEW – Cinemascore: 48; Metacritic:; Est. budget: $15 million
$8,800,000 in 2,815 theaters; PTA: $3,126; Cumulative: $8,800,000
4. F9 (Universal) Week 4; Last weekend #4
$7,600,000 (-34%) in 3,368 theaters (-81); PTA: $2,204; Cumulative: $154,800,000
5. Boss Baby: Family Business (Universal) Week 2; Last weekend #2; also available on Peacock
$4,700,000 (-47%) in 3,449 theaters (+389); PTA: $1,363; Cumulative: $44,600,000
6. The Forever Purge (Universal) Week 2; Last weekend #3
$4,100,000 (-43%) in 2,735 theaters (-323); PTA: $1,499; Cumulative: $35,900,000
7. A Quiet Place Part II (Paramount) Week 8; Last weekend #5; also on Premium VOD and Paramount Plus
$2,300,000 (-27%) in 1,995 theaters (-364); PTA: $1,153; Cumulative: $155,028,000
8. Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (Focus) NEW – Metacritic: 80
$1,900,000 in 927 theaters; PTA: $2,050; Cumulative: $1,900,000
9. Cruella (Disney) Week 8; Last weekend #6; also on Premium VOD
$1,112,000 (-53%) in 1,175 theaters (-700); PTA: $946; Cumulative: $83,430,000
10. Pig (Neon) NEW – Metacritic: 84
$945,000 in 550 theaters; PTA: $1,718; Cumulative: $945,000
While The National Association of Theater Owners might be a little peeved that many studios are continuing to release films in both theaters and PVOD/VOD, movie fans are obviously still going out to theaters as well as enjoying films in the comfort of their own homes.
