It has been five years since theaters accomplished the feat, which shows another sign of COVID recovery
For the first time in five years, four different films, including newcomers “Elvis” and “The Black Phone,” grossed over $20 million at the box office during a non-holiday weekend.
The last time it happened in July 2017, Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” opened to $50.5 million while “Girls Trip,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “War for the Planet of the Apes” earned over $20 million in weekend holdovers.
Become a member to read more.
For much of the past year, the COVID-era box office has been defined by a status quo where one, maybe two films make up the overwhelming majority of tickets sold on any given weekend. That appears to be changing.
Even the No. 5 film on the charts, Disney/Pixar’s “Lightyear,” was a sign of restored box office health even as all signs point to it being a theatrical flop. With $18.2 million grossed in its second weekend, “Lightyear” posted the highest total for any film in the No. 5 slot since theaters reopened.
Combined, these five films are attracting a wide range of moviegoers, whether it is Gen Zers for “The Black Phone,” Boomers for “Elvis,” families for “Lightyear,” or pretty much everyone for “Jurassic World: Dominion” and “Top Gun: Maverick.” Such diversity will allow movie theaters to rely on a higher baseline of audience turnout than they saw in 2021, increasing the revenue they can fall back on while waiting for a major film like “Thor: Love & Thunder” to arrive and jolt the charts with a $100 million-plus opening.
Beyond “Thor,” theaters should also get support from “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” a family film expected to do better than “Lightyear” with a $70 million-plus projected launch, and the Jordan Peele horror film “Nope,” which will try to match the $71 million opening of the filmmaker’s last film, “Us.”
As these films arrive and the films currently in theaters continue their runs, the ticket sales from these well-received titles should trickle down the charts and elevate box office numbers from last year’s totals even during a comparatively weaker August and September.
