SATURDAY AM There’s about $10M missing from the current theatrical marketplace this weekend.
Projections for Universal/Blumhouse/Miramax/Trancas’ Halloween is Over were expected to come in around $55M and now it’s looking like $43.4M. Clearly tracking didn’t account for the theatrical-day-and-date factor. Yes, it’s still a profitable gross against the film’s $30M production cost, and Uni’s theatrical distribution in its date execution and the studio’s marketing aren’t to blame here. Those departments didn’t do anything wrong. Also don’t point a finger at Paramount’s third awesome weekend for Smile(–35% with $12MChances are that genre lovers are watching both movies. I don’t even think Halloween is Over‘ C+ Cinemascore is a reason here (the lowest grade in the recent franchise subset trilogy from David Gordon Green).
However, one executive from a studio points out this: “It’s hard to underestimate the day-and-date factor”. Evidently, despite the fact Peacock, which is on whichHalloween is Over It is also available in 15M paid subscribers homes (a small number compared to the competition).
Riddle me this, Jeff Shell: So you take a branded film, deflate its optics by making it day-and-date with a headlined lower box office number in exchange for financials, streaming viewership and subscriber numbers which can’t be immediately publicly disclosed? Or will be released in weeks. Or will it never be? Or may be leaked to the Wall Street Journal (remember Trolls World Tour According to sources, it is estimated that this number could be close to $100 million. It is happening at a time where the theatrical side of the business is suffering and lacks product. Wall Street is falling in love with streaming? It doesn’t matter that Halloween is Over It will gross more than Barbarian Or Don’t Worry Darling. Of course it will, it’s a franchise movie, duh. It’s money being left on the table. This is a reminder that equity players are not in Halloween is Over Blumhouse and Trancas, as well as Miramax were all bought out in their entirety for this experiment. Uni will only receive a global distribution fee.
Essentially, if you think about it, by not going completely theatrical, there’s about $5M which isn’t going back to Universal this weekend in pure film rental (roughly 50% of the pic’s missing $10M). This could be even more as day-and date movies see a huge drop.Halloween Kills Weekend 2 saw a 71% drop in sales, and this was also on Peacock. Halloween Kills In regards to the $49.4M opening generated with a 2x leg out factor of $92M. Peacock subscriptions fees are paid by NBCUni and they keep it. Right now there’s a deal going on where Peacock can be yours for $19.99/year. So, NBCUni is banking on more subscribers than 250,000 signing up? Are those subscribers going to stay? You can have your demo by inviting Halloween is Over What is the difference between date and day? Do you have any questions for older people? The majority of them were between 18 and 34 years old Halloween is Over At 65%, business The conventional wisdom is that streaming subscribers who sign up off movies don’t stick; they stick around for the series. Halloween is OverPostTrak is rating it 2 1/2 stars, 64% If business slows down tonight due to word-of mouth, it will also impact the OTT services. It’s not exactly a win-win situation.
What are your ideas for celebrating? Halloween is Over As a win? It is not in viewership. The 30-day viewership is the first. Halloween Kills was 2.8M in terrestrial Smart TV homes per Samba TV, and that’s not a lot next to the 4.1M who watched Matt Reeves’ Batman It was available on HBO Max for seven days after it had completed its theatrical run of 45 days. When it comes to frosh streamers right now, it’s not about viewership, it’s about subscribers. Even if 10M viewers watched, Halloween is Over This weekend at Peacock, how much was that fueled by piracy? And copied passwords. This is a hard-hitting analysis of money earned versus money lost. What’s the worth in diluting a brand to prop a struggling streaming service?
Perhaps you, Peacock just need to build your own. House of Dragon.
WarnerMedia wisely learned from the wrongs of practicing the upside-down economics of day-and-date, and NBCUni, I don’t know why you haven’t learned that yet. Streamers could embrace the theatrical window with Netflix and its streaming services. Glass Onion: The Knives Out Story experiment. John Fithian, the outgoing NATO President/CEO, stated at CinemaCon that: “Simultaneous release is dead as a serious business model, and piracy is what killed it.”
NBCUniversal: Keep up with the times.
*****
You can also find other diagnostics Halloween is Over: The third Green-directed pic has now matched its predecessor. Halloween kills Concerning its Rotten Tomatoes critic score at 39%. Audiences aren’t that far from disagreeing with reviewers at 57% on Rotten Tomatoes. There was a lot of diversity here with 33% Caucasian, 37% Latino, Hispanic, 19% Black, 4% Asian, and 7% Other. The film was a success in the South, South Central, and Midwest. The Cinemark Tinseltown El Paso had the highest grossing movie. A third of all ticket sales were made on the Premium Large Format screen.
On the limited side of the box office, United Artists Releasing’s Till Gross $96KYesterday at 16 theaters across five markets for what appears to have been a $229K first weekend or $14,3KTheater average. Solid numbers I hear from the Chinonye Chukwu directed drama’s play in NYC, LA, Chicago, Washington DC and Atlanta with a great turnout at AMC Phipps Plaza in Atlanta.
Focus Features’ expansion of Tar There were anywhere from 4 to 36 theaters in 13 cities. $110KFriday is a turning out to be an a $360k second weekend or $10KTheater. Good numbers, I hear them in NYC, LA San Francisco San Francisco, Toronto, Chicago and San Francisco.
The total ticket sales for the weekend are estimated at $82.3M. This is 24% less than the $108.9M that was made last year. The big movies were bigger back then. There is no time to die And Venom: Let There Be Violence
1.) Halloween is Over (Uni) 3,901 theatres, Fri $20.2M, 3-day $43.4M/Wk 1
2.)Smile(Par) 3,612 theatres (-47), Fri$3.73M(-31%), $12M(-35%), 3-day$70.7M/Wk 3
3.)Lyle, Lyle Crocodile(Sony), 4,350 theatres, Fri$2M (-43%), 3-day$7.25M (-36%)/Total: $22.6M/Wk 2
4.)The Woman King(Sony) 2,565 -777 theaters Fri$1.35M (-26%), 3-day$3.765M(-27%)/Total$59.8M/Wk 5
5.)Amsterdam(Dis), 3,005 theaters Fri$888K (-66%),, 3-day$2.9M (-54%)/Total: $12M/Wk 2
6.)Don’t Worry Darling(NL/WB), 2,734 theaters (-590), Fri$740K(-35%), 3-day$2.3M(-34%)/Total$42.5M/ Wk 4
7.)Barbarian(20th/Dis1) 1,805 theaters (355), Fri$406K(-35%) 3-day$1.3M(-39%)/Total$38.9M/Wk 6
8.)Bros(Uni) 2,201 theatres (-1,155), Fri$290K(-57%) 3-day$900K(-58%)/Total $10.8M/Wk 3
9.)Terrifier 2(Iconic), 700 theaters (-186).Fri $250K (-2%), 3-day$803KTotal (even)$2.2M/Wk 2
Talk about a window working for a low-budget horror film — this Iconic Releasing title from filmmaker Damien Leone is holding firm in sync with its $805K opening weekend.
10.) Top Gun Maverick (Par) 902 theaters (-225) Fri $200K (-11%), 3-day $680K (-16%), Total: $715.8M/Wk 21
FRIDAY, MIDDAY UPDATEThis is the moment Halloween is Over isn’t looking as super as the forecasts had predicted — meaning in the $50M range. Still, at a $43M opening, it’s not shabby for a film that cost $30M. It’s a trilogy. Universal can brag that it’s the sixth year in a row (8th time) that the studio has had a No. 1 opening with a horror movie after 2017’s Get Out 2018’s Halloween, 2019’s Us, 2020’s Freaky, 2021’s CAndyman and Halloween Kills and this year’s Nope And Halloween is over
Today, including last night’s $5.4M previews, looks to be $20MAt 3,901 theatres, only 12% are below Halloween Kills’ first day. Maybe there will be a West Coast or late night bump, but that’s what the numbers are looking like as of now against historical comps ofHalloween And Halloween is Dead. The last Michael Myers movie posted a 24% Friday/previews-to-Saturday decline.
RelishMix’s social media platform saw nothing but blue sky forHalloween ends saying that chatter spins positive about the film’s title, Halloween is Over, as they assume it’s a teaser for the future of the franchise, noting that “Michael Myers can never die because of his immortality.”
The trick or treat iconography is also a part of the brand’s history. HalloweenFirst released 44 years ago as a teenager, Curtis’s film is still popular. Super fans are also calling-out the film’s creator John Carpenter who composed this sequel.
The total social media reach across YouTube, Instagram and Facebook is 146.5M. This is lower than the 2018 title, which was close to 193M, but about the same for Twitter. Halloween Kills 147M. Curtis Richards and Kyle Richards are the leaders in social media outreach with 7.8M and 6.3% respectively.
Curtis was confirmed in writing Jimmy KimmelThat Halloween is Over This is her last. Halloween film…
Maybe Paramount’s Smile This is how they are stealing some business: The Parker Finn horror film’s third weekend is expected to decrease 37%. $11.75MA running total of $70.5M. Friday $3.6M-32% in 3,612 theaters
The second weekend of Sony’s Lyle Lyle, Crocodile With a $1.9MFriday, -48% and 3 days of $7MAt 4,350 theaters, 47% and ten days of $22.4M.
Fourth is TriStar’s The Woman King at 2,565 theaters, and a 5th Thursday of $933K, -29%, $3.5MWeekend, -32% for an annual total of $56.6M.
Fifth place is New Regency/20th Century Studios/Disney’s Amsterdam For a 3,005 price, $900KFriday, -66%; second weekend $2.9M, -55% and ten days of $11.9M.
FRIDAY AM UPDATE Universal’s release of Blumhouse, Miramax and Trancas’ Halloween is Over On Thursday night, we saw $5.4M from 3,200 theaters with showtimes beginning at 5 p.m. That figure is +11% from last year’s Halloween Kills‘ previews, which were $4.85M.
RELATED: ‘Halloween Ends’ Review: Jamie Lee Curtis Promises This Is It For Her And Michael Myers – Really??
The third Halloween The movie by David Gordon Green is in a subset of the trilogy and will gross approximately $55M at 3,901 theatres. Halloween is Over cost $30M before P&A. The pic wasn’t exclusive to theaters for one night before also hitting streaming service Peacock on the paid subscriber tier; it became available at 8 pm ET, Deadline has just learned. Again, it’s not that Universal doesn’t have any faith in theatrical, Peacock at 15M paid subscribers and needs more. Similar to Halloween kills which Uni also pulled this theatrical day-and-date on, the studio has bought out the creative players’ backends, making them whole as though the movie was a tentpole hit given the pivot to Peacock.
Green’s first Halloween Jamie Lee Curtis played Laurie Strode in 2018’s movie. She earned $7.7M in previews on Thursday night and $76.2M for her first weekend. It was also the fourth best October opening. And, more astonishingly, it electrified what is usually a dead zone of films in this time period.
Uni was theatrical on a date last year Halloween Kills To be safe for moviegoers and to spike Peacock Subs, The opening of the pic was the best for horror films during the pandemic. It also made the top two for day-and-date titles (after). Black Widow‘s $80M) with $49.4M after a $4.85M Thursday previews, which repped 21% of the pic’$22.8M on Friday the 1st.
Critics largely liked Green’s 2018 Halloween It scored 79% on Rotten Tomatoes and received a B+ from the audiences. But film critics are refusing to give the sequels a chance. Halloweens Kills And Halloween is Over respective 47% and 39% Rotten grades. Auds gave Halloween Kills A B- CinemaScore (average grade for a movie of the genre is between a B+ and a C+).
Opening limited this weekend is United Artists Releasing/Eon’s Chinonye Chukwu-directed drama Till Available at 16 locations in five countries. The movie about Emmett Till’s mother, who vows to expose the racism behind his 1955 lynching, stands at 100% off 43 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes in the wake of its New York Film Festival world premiere. Till In the coming weeks, we will be expanding to other markets and theaters.
‘Till’NYFF Review: Chinonye Chukwu Takes The Emmett Till Story With Love
Among those films in regular release, Paramount’s horror pic Smile Grossed an estimated $1.5M Yesterday, -8% at 3,659 from Wednesday, putting its two week running total at $58.6M after a $26.4MSecond week. In its third round, the movie is expected to relax by 55%.
Sony’s family animated/live-action title Lyle Lyle, Crocodile Its first week ends with $15.4MThere are 4,350 theaters. Thursday’s estimated cost was $700K. This is +16% more than Wednesday.
New Regency/20th Century Studios/Disney’s David O. Russell period comedy, Amsterdam, It is expected to lose up to $100M. $9M3,005 theaters Thursday was approximately $440K-15% starting Wednesday
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Booked at 3,342 theaters, TriStar’s The Woman King The fourth week of its fourth week is over $7.2MFor a total running sum of $56M after a $420KThursday at 3:34 PM +10%
New Line’s Don’t Worry Darling The third week of the year saw an increase in $5.2MAt 3,324, a $40.2MRunning total after a $365K Thursday: -2% from Wednesday