Welcome back to Box Office Breakdown, the weekly segment where I analyze the top ten highest grossing films of the past weekend.
Unfortunately, since most theatres are still closed down due to the COVID-19 and will continue to be for a while, we are unable to analyze the box office as studios are not reporting weekend projections. Due to this situation, studios are prematurely pulling films from theatres and releasing them on VOD, allowing audiences to watch them within the comfort of their own home. While theatres are temporarily shut down for an indefinite amount of time, we are dedicating this segment to analyzing how each film fares on VOD.
Although COVID restrictions have loosened worldwide, cases have been rapidly increasing in certain areas. Theatres have been beginning to slowly open in certain areas with restrictions in place, but they are playing primarily classics and VOD releases to test the waters before studios resume theatrical releases. The box office is beginning to produce results in certain countries that are in better shape such as France, Spain, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. However, it will take time for Canada, the US and the rest of the world to catch up. Once theatres begin to open up worldwide and the box office regains some sense of normality, we will return to discussing the state of the box office. Until then, we will continue to analyze the trajectory of VOD and streaming releases
Streaming had the upper hand this past weekend, as it was a relatively slow week for VOD release. The biggest release in terms of star-power was Force of Nature, an action-heist film starring Mel Gibson. The film received extremely negative reviews from critics and currently holds an approval rating of 10% on Rotten Tomatoes (one of the lowest scores for any film this year). However, it seems to be thriving financially, as it is currently holding the #2 spot on the iTunes Charts and has earned $16.7M in its international theatrical run so far.
The other notable new VOD release was Mr. Jones, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2019. The WWII thriller stars James Norton, Vanessa Kirby and Peter Sarsgaard and received mostly positive reviews from critics, with a Rotten Tomatoes approval rating of 83%. It seems to be doing relatively well with audiences, as it is currently positioned at the #9 spot on the iTunes Charts.
Streaming on the other hand had a much more eventful weekend, as Disney+ released a recording of the award winning broadway musical Hamilton. The recording has gained critical acclaim for perfectly capturing the energy and heart of the live show. . Due to the fact that Hamilton has only played in major cities and is extremely difficult to get tickets to, most people haven’t gotten a chance to see it live and may only be familiar with the soundtrack. The recording allows fans to experience the popular musical in the comfort of their own homes. Disney+ hasn’t released information regarding how many times Hamilton has been streamed, but according to a Variety article, the addition of the acclaimed broadway musical on Disney+ single-handedly increased app downloads by approximately 74%.
Aside from new releases, we wanted to report which films have been generating the most sales on the iTunes Charts. Apple doesn’t release statistics or a weekly chart, so these are the top 10 films on iTunes based on the moment this article was being written:
9. Mr. Jones
8. Irresistible
6. The Truth
In the coming weeks, we will continue to analyze the state of VOD releases and will provide updates regarding upcoming films.
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