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. This past weekend in particular was very eventful for VOD and especially streaming, as three of the year’s biggest films thus far were released.
Kelly Reichardt’s latest film First Cow was initially given a limited theatrical release on March 6th, but it was prematurely pulled from theatres due to COVID-19. Rather than immediately releasing the film on VOD, A24 decided to wait for an opportunity to give it a proper theatrical run. Unfortunately, as COVID-19 continues to affect many across the globe, A24 decided it would be more ideal to release the film on VOD. While it doesn’t seem to have caught the attention of general audiences (it’s currently only ranked #76 on the iTunes Charts), it’s the taking the film community by storm, as it is one of the most widely acclaimed films of the year with a 96% average on Rotten Tomatoes.
Back in January, Hulu and Neon made history at the Sundance Film Festival by purchasing the existential indie comedy Palm Springs for over $17.5M, making it the biggest acquisition in the history of the festival. The film was released on Hulu this past weekend and seems to be doing very well with audiences. It also happens to be one of the most critically beloved films of the year, as it currently holds a score of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Initially scheduled for a theatrical release in May of this year, Apple TV+ ended up acquiring the rights to the highly anticipated WWII-thriller Greyhound, which was released on the streaming service this past weekend. The film seems to be doing very well commercially due to its massive marketing campaign and the fact that it stars Tom Hanks. The film received generally strong reviews and is currently holding an 80% average on Rotten Tomatoes.
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:
10. Bad Education
7. Relic
5. 1917
4. Midway
3. Vivarium
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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