MARTIN GROVE'S HOLLYWOOD REPORT FOR 3/3/24: Exhibitors got a new lease on life this weekend as DUNE: PART TWO opened to an over-performing $81.5M.
Moviegoers showed they'll hit theatres if there's something playing they want to see. They definitely wanted to spend time with Timothée Chalamet & Zendaya on Arrakis -- and in the biggest & best theatres. Premium large format (PLF) screens accounted for 48% (about $39.1M) of D2's domestic ticket sales while IMAX theatres brought in 23% (about $18.7M). As Christopher Nolan did with OPPENHEIMER, D2 director Denis Villeneuve filmed part of his 70mm movie with IMAX cameras.
The WB/Legendary hit opened #1 to $81.5M at 4,071 theatres ($20,020), , per Comscore. Hollywood handicappers were buzzing last week about a launch of up to $80M, but by mid-weekend they had scaled back to around $75M. WB started out with projections of $65M and was up to $72-75M mid-weekend.
Internationally, Comscore said D2 did $97M for a worldwide cume of $178.5M in 72 territories -- not yet including China or Japan. Earlier global guestimates were for $160M. D2 reportedly cost $190M to produce (or more, some claim) with most of that having come from Legendary.
Going into this weekend, D2 was tracking well with only one demo -- men over 25 (13 points over norm). Its next best score was with under-25 women (just three points over norm). Men under 25 didn't care (equal to norm) and neither did women over 25 (one point over norm).
What should help keep D2 orbiting nicely at the boxoffice for weeks to come are Rotten Tomatoes' critics applauding it at 94% and audiences loving it at 95%. Favorable reviews and great word of mouth typically mean boxoffice legs. D2 runs 2 hours 46 minutes, but will get all the screens it needs to make up for performances lost because of its length. Moreover, people are turning up at 3 a.m. to see it at their theatres of choice and in the seat locations they prefer!
Thanks to D2, Comscore puts this weekend's overall marketplace at $113.02M, up 83.7% from the prior no-new-studio-openings weekend and down 5% vs. this time last year. Comscore's year to date tally has 2024 at $1.00B, down 13% from $1.15B in 2023.
Next weekend should keep exhibitors in good spirits with D2 likely to hold well and two wide openings targeted to different audiences -- Universal/DreamWorks Animation's PG animated family film KUNG FU PANDA 4 & Lionsgate/Blumhouse Entertainment's PG-13 horror thriller IMAGINARY.
Going into this weekend, PANDA 4 was tracking through the roof with under-25 men (27 points over norm) and next best with women under 25 (eight points above). No Rotten Tomatoes scores are available yet.
IMAGINARY, going into this weekend, was tracking best with under-25 women (four points over norm) and next best with women over 25 (two points above). No Rotten Tomatoes scores are available yet.
#movies #boxoffice #martingrove #duneparttwo
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