Welcome back to Box Office Breakdown, the weekly segment where I analyze the top ten highest grossing films of the past weekend.
We have unfortunately been unable to analyze the box office for the past five months due to COVID-19 and the closure of theatres, not just in North America, but worldwide. While theatres and drive-ins have been opening gradually throughout the past month, they have been mainly screening classics and VOD releases. This past weekend marked the first time since March that we got major theatrical releases, which means we can begin to transition into analyzing the box office again. However, we will still be keeping a close eye on the state of VOD and streaming releases.
Paramount Pictures made the bold decision to exclusively release The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run theatrically in Canada, as the COVID situation has been less prevalent in comparison to many other countries. The film will not be receiving an international release until 2021, which means it has to rely solely on the Canadian Box Office for now. SpongeBob was released in 300 theatres across Canada and made a profit of nearly $900K, which is definitely lower than the studio hoped for considering the film’s hefty $60M budget. However, considering the circumstances and the fact that its release strategy is largely an experiment to test the waters of the box office, $900K is a fairly respectable amount. It’ll probably continue to dominate at the domestic box office until worthy competition is released.
The other new theatrical release this past weekend was Unhinged, an action-thriller starring Russell Crowe. While the film received an international theatrical release in certain countries, it is also relying on Canada for its domestic box office results. The property may not as popular as SpongeBob, but it was still managed to make $600K domestically and an impressive $3.8M worldwide. However, the film has mixed reviews and is the type of film that doesn’t typically have legs at the box office. We’ll have to wait and see whether the film continues to thrive, or quickly fades away into obscenity as bigger films start to get theatrical releases.
While there were no major new VOD releases this past weekend, streaming produced two notable titles that are worth talking about. The first is Netflix’s Project Power, a gritty take on the superhero genre starring A-listers such as Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The film received mixed to generally positive reviews and is doing very well with audiences, as it is currently #1 on the Netflix Streaming Charts.
The other major streaming release was Apple TV+’s Boys State, a critically acclaimed documentary that premiered at Sundance earlier this year. While the film doesn’t seem to have the streaming numbers that Project Power has, it has received unanimous praise from critics and will most likely be in the awards conversation.
Since theatres are starting to open and the domestic Box Office results are being recorded, we are going revert back to reporting on the top 10 highest grossing films from the past weekend instead of the DEG charts from now on.
10) The Burnt Orange Heresy (Week 24: $13.5K)
9) American Deep State (Week 1: $15.3K)
8) Spree (Week 1: $20.5K)
7) Made in Italy (Week 2: $20.7K)
6) The Big Ugly (Week 4: $22.3K)
5) Peninsula (Week 2: $79.2K)
4) The Rental (Week 4: 93.6K)
3) The Tax Collector (Week 2: $182.1K)
2) Unhinged (Week 1: $601K)
1) The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run (Week 1: $865.8K)
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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