SATURDAY AM: Refresh for more analysis and chart…Sony’s second weekend of Marvel Venom: The Last Dance is holding better than expected with -56% or $22.2M; which is the same second weekend percentage hold as 2018’s Venom. However, the studio isn’t looking at one-two punch with first and second as their release of Miramax’s Here is falling flat with $5.15M off a $50M production cost in fourth — which was to be expected. Even if this Robert Zemeckis-Tom Hanks-Robin Wright-scribe Eric Roth Forrest Gump reunion opened at its projection of $7M, it wouldn’t be anything to scream about. Here received a B-, which is the same grade as Zemeckis’ experimental dud Welcome to Marwen back in 2018.
By the way, Here isn’t the lowest opening for Zemeckis or Hanks. Zemeckis’ Welcome to Marwen crashed with a $2.35M over the Christmas holidays off a $50M production cost, while Hanks has seen lower with the famed 1990 bomb Bonfire of the Vanities ($4.2M unadjusted for inflation) and the 2020 pandemic release (when NYC, LA and many metro theaters were closed) with News of the World ($2.2M). Welcome to Marwen ended its domestic run at $10.7M.
Focus Features
PostTrak is also lackluster on Here with 3 stars. Sixty-six percent of the audience were 45, with close to half over 55. That tells you something about who was interested. How do we deem older-skewing Conclave at a $6.5M opening last weekend a success? It cost significantly cheaper at $20M, has a better audience exit at B+, with fantastic reviews at 92% certified fresh. It’s in the awards season mix, and it only eased -24% in weekend 2 with $5M in its second weekend. Here won’t be sticking around with a 60% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and poor reviews at 40%.
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FRIDAY AFTERNOON: Not exactly a jazzy weekend for the first frame of November which can typically be a launch pad for a big movie, but alas, the election, the election. Sony’s Marvel Venom: The Last Dance is looking to be down -63% with a second weekend of $19M after a second Friday in the mid-$5M range. That puts the Tom Hardy threequel at $82.9M at 4,131 sites.
Currently, the Culver City lot’s release of Miramax’s Here is coming up short of its $7M projection with a $5M opening at 2,647 locations in fourth off a $1.85M Friday, which includes $475K previews. Ya know how much Robert Zemeckis’ Tom Hanks-Robin Wright movie, Forrest Gump, opened to back in July 1994? $24.4M at 1,595 theaters, unadjusted for inflation.
Second goes to Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Wild Robot at 3,231 sites is seeing a 6th weekend in the No. 2 spot with $6M, -12% which should get the feature close to $120M by Sunday.
Third is Paramount’s Smile 2 with a third weekend of $5.1M at 3,235, -46% and running cume by Sunday of $51M.
Fifth goes to Focus Features’ second weekend of Conclave at 1,796 theaters with a Friday of $1.25M and a 3-day of $4.2M, -36% and a ten-day of $14.1M.
FRIDAY AM: People weren’t just trick-or-treating, parading or creating an insane traffic jam grid block between Santa Monica Boulevard and Hollywood on Halloween — they actually went to the movies on Halloween: The top 10 titles saw an average 46% spike in business over Wednesday.
Sony’s Venom: The Last Dance ruled Halloween with $2.8M, +12%, for a first week of $63.9M. The Kelly Marcel-directed Marvel threequel starring Tom Hardy hopefully will do $20M in Weekend 2 after misfiring stateside with the trilogy’s lowest start of $51M. However, the Culver City lot also had the Miramax release of the Robert Zemeckis-Tom Hanks-Robin Wright Forrest Gump reunion Here, which posted $475K in previews from shows that began at 2 p.m. at 2,402 locations. That’s close to the same preview cash that Focus Features’ Conclave and A24’s We Live in Time have posted of late, with both doing $500K in their Thursdays. The hope is that this $50M drama, which shows generations of families on the same plot of land at a fixed camera angle, will open to $7M, maybe more if older sophisticated audiences find it — this despite awful reviews on Rotten Tomatoes of 38%. The pic is a distribution deal for Sony, which released such Hanks movies in recent years as A Man Called Otto and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.
Tracking firm Quorum gives props to Sony for having the audacity to release a movie just before the election. Some filmmakers have steered clear of that, with comedies in particular. Despite the poor reviews on Here, awareness for the film jumped from 28% to 37%, but interest remains low.
Here is the only major studio wide release this weekend. Jill Goldsmith has the indie preview for you later Friday.
The week and Halloween chart:
1) Venom: The Last Dance (Sony) 4,131 theaters, Thursday $2.8M (+12%), Wk $63.9M/Wk 1
2) Smile 2 (Par) 3,624 (+5) theaters, Thursday $1.7M (+78%), Wk $14.6M, Total $45.8M/Wk 2
3) Conclave (Foc) 1,753 theaters, Thu $767K (+6%), Wk $9.9M/Wk 1
4) The Wild Robot (Uni) 3,427 (-402) theaters, Thu $535K (+10%), Wk $9.1M, Total $113.9M/Wk 5
5) Terrifier 3 (Cine) 2,751 (-42) theaters, Thu $1.1M (+104%), Wk $7.6M, Total $47.2M/Wk 3
