Welcome back to Box Office Breakdown, the weekly segment where I analyze the top ten highest grossing films of the past weekend. As theatres continue to reopen and prepare for an onslaught of new theatrical releases, we will be analyzing the state of the box office, as well as VOD and streaming.
While many theatres throughout Canada and worldwide remain open, the Ontario government shut down all theatres throughout Toronto, Peel and Ottawa for 30 days due to the recent spike in COVID cases. It’s unclear whether other provinces and areas throughout the world will respond in the same way, but as of now there are still enough theatres open domestically to be able to report on the Box Office.
The War with Grandpa triumphed last weekend and was able to finally dethrone Tenet from the #1 spot, but it unfortunately wasn’t able to hold ground, as the action-thriller Honest Thief took its place. Despite receiving generally negative reviews from critics, the film stars several A-listers including Liam Neeson, Jai Courtney and Anthony Ramos, so it’s not difficult to understand why it is thriving at the box office. The film is making the vast majority of its profit domestically, so it may have a difficult time earning back its budget. That being said, it will likely dominate at the domestic Box Office for the next few weeks.
The romantic-drama 2 Hearts charted just outside of the top 5 and was the only other wide release to come out this past weekend. The film received almost unanimously negative reviews from critics as it currently holds a 21% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, audiences seem to be much friendlier as the film achieved a “B” rating on CinemaScore and an 83% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Paramount Pictures’ highly anticipated fantasy-drama Love & Monsters was released on PVOD and was given a limited theatrical release on the same day. While the film’s theatrical performance was far from impressive, it has been doing very well on VOD platforms, as it topped both the FandangoNow and Apple TV charts. The film received praise from both critics and audiences, who claim it is a thoroughly entertaining and imaginative fantasy film with lots of heart. It will likely continue to build word of mouth buzz and may climb the charts if Paramount Pictures decides to expand its theatrical run.
The mystery-comedy The Kid Detective rounded out the top 10. Despite screening in over 800 theatres across North America, the film has unfortunately underperformed as it was unable to crack $200M. The film seems to be relatively well liked, so it may be a sleeper hit.
In terms of streaming releases, Aaron Sorkin’s highly anticipated Oscar heavyweight The Trial of the Chicago 7 was released on Netflix and is currently #4 on their trending charts. The film has received generally very strong reviews from both critics and audiences, and will likely stay on the trending charts throughout Oscar season.
Here are the top 10 highest grossing films domestically from the past weekend:
10) The Kid Detective (Week 1: $140K)
9) Love & Monsters (Week 1: $255K)
8) Unhinged (Week 10: $424K)
7) The New Mutants (Week 8: $468K)
6) 2 Hearts (Week 1: $523K)
5) Hocus Pocus: 2020 Re-release (Week 3: $756K)
4) The Nightmare Before Christmas: 2020 Re-release (Week 1: $1.3M)
3) Tenet (Week 7: $1.6M)
2) The War With Grandpa (Week 2: $2.5M)
1) Honest Thief (Week 1: $4.1M)
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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