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.
After Trolls World Tour shook up the iTunes Charts over the Easter weekend, there hasn’t been much in the way of new releases and the films that have released on VOD within the past week are independent films that aren’t making much of an impact on the charts.
The most prolific release this past week was Wendy; a reimagined version of Peter Pan, which is the long-awaited second film from Beasts of the Southern Wild director, Benh Zeitlin. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and was released in select theatres on February 28th, but it was prematurely pulled from theatres shortly before it was set to receive a wider release. The film received relatively mixed reviews from critics and is currently struggling to make its mark with audiences as well, currently sitting at #95 on the iTunes chats
Hiroyuki Imaishi’s acclaimed anime film Promare was also released on VOD this past weekend. The film was released in Japan and in select theatres in North America back in 2019, but it just now receiving an official Blu-ray and digital release. The film did relatively well at the box office, but its targeting a niche audience, most of which seem to be ordering the Blu-ray rather than renting it on VOD.
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. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
9. Dolittle
8. Knives Out
7. Underwater
6. Little Women
5. The Way Back
4. Hustlers
In terms of upcoming theatrical releases, there haven’t been any more film rescheduled within the past week. However, it seems like Warner Bros. is sticking to the July 17th release date of Tenet, which could be the first major blockbuster since the shutdown, assuming theatres will reopen by then.
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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