It was not a good time at the box office this weekend.
The rough total for all films came in at just over $68 million. Total.
The number 1 film was Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron,” a Japanese animated film not really for children. It made $12.8 million. For the weekend including Thursday.
Number 2 was the new “Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes.” with $9.4 million.
Even Beyonce’s “Renaissance” movie has turned out to be a big disappointment, picking up $5 million for a total of $28 million. The premiere in London cost more than that!
Movies that should in theaters but aren’t include the whole Netflix group– “Rustin,” “Nyad,” “May December,” and “Maestro,” which is in theaters but there are no box office numbers.
Christmas looms as a bleak time. Warner’s “The Color Purple” should be a massive hit, cross fingers. In the old days, it would have been. But if it doesn’t get Critics Choice and Golden Globe nominations this week, the studio will panic. “The Color Purple” is one of my top 5 movies of 2023. But it’s like a great R&B hit on the singles chart– it needs a lot of love to crossover to the top 40.
Warner’s has some other shots at holiday hoopla with “Wonka” and “Aquaman.” MGM has the great “American Fiction.” And there’s always “The Iron Claw,” which I’ve seen and doesn’t look like a Christmas crowd pleaser.
The good news is that Universal is re-releasing “Oppenheimer” into theaters January 5th. It’s worth second and third look. There’s a lot you miss in the first showing.
