Thursday, March 28, 2024

Box Office: After Middling Success of “Respect,” MGM Keeps Sean Penn’s “Flag Day” to Just 24 Theater Opening

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MGM’s lion is taking it easy waiting for the Amazon deal to close.

They’re giving Sean Penn’s “Flag Day” the smallest release of any major film this year, just 24 theaters for opening weekend.

We haven’t seen such a small opening release in quite a while. The trend during the pandemic era has been wide releases that grab as much money and attention as possible right away.

But “Flag Day” is problematic. It’s only at around 41% on Rotten Tomatoes. There are only 34 reviews so far, which isn’t a lot. MGM has really kept the film from wide reviews. I would have paid to see it tonight but it’s not playing anywhere near me!

But the studio may be gun shy. Their current release, “Respect,” isn’t going great. On Wednesday night, “Respect” made only $715K. The total since last Thursday is a little over $11 million. It remains in wide release.

So maybe the idea is to see if “Flag Day” percolates and catches on. If not, we can only hope they’ll move it to streaming fast.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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