Moviegoers definitely chose “Death” over love this Valentine’s weekend.
“Death on the Nile,” directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Gal Gadot, took in a very respectable $12.8 million from Friday through Sunday. Pre-pandemic that might have been $18 million. But no one was in ‘de-nial” about this success.
Add that to international sales, and the worldwide total is $33 million.
The success of “Death” was at the expense of Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson. Their romcom, “Marry Me” was divorced by audiences with just $8 million in a very wide release- over 3.600 theaters. It was narrowly beaten by “Jackass Forever.”
“Marry Me” was also available at home, where it could be streamed on NBC Universal’s Peacock platform. But Peacock is no Netflix or HBO Max, so the demand there was probably as restrained as it was in movie theaters. The only thing “Marry Me” can hope for now is a Monday Valentine’s Day surge.
Luckily, “Marry Me” doesn’t have a very high budget. The whole look and feel of it is like a Hallmark or Lifetime movie writ large, with a $23 million price tag, maybe a bit more to accommodate Lopez’s eyelashes and recording studio expenses. But I don’t think there will be a clamor for a sequel.
The only other new movie this weekend was another crapfest vigilante movie starring Liam Neeson. “Blacklight” made just $3.6 million. No one born in the 21st century would believe that Liam Neeson was once an Oscar nominated big deal who made quality films. I guess he made some good money with all these garbage movies. But was it worth it? Could be not have worked with top directors?
A nice box office footnote: “The Beatles Get Back Rooftop Concert” has made $853,000 playing just four days in IMAX theaters. Sweet Loretta Martin finally got her own vindication!
