A Sad Box Office? Sure, but It’s 50 Percent Ahead of Super Bowl Weekend Last Year
If it makes anyone feel better, the $55 million total box office was the best for any Super Bowl weekend since 2020. It also continues year to date improvement, besting 2024 by close to 50 percent.
“Dog Man” (Universal) repeated as #1 with $13.7 million but unexpectedly dropped 62 percent in its second weekend after a surprisingly strong opening. “Heart Eyes” (Sony) and “Love Hurts” (Universal), two new wide releases, combined managed $15 million.
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The DreamWorks animated film opened about the same as “The Wild Robot,” with a similar A Cinemascore. It was unlikely that “Dog Man” would reach the $144 million “The Wild Robot” attained, but based on precedent (similar films usually triple their openings), it seemed like it could become a $100 million grosser. With its steep drop, $85 million feels more likely.
The year has seen nine non-franchise studio wide releases to date, most mid-sized or lower budgets, but only “Dog Man” and “One of Them Days” (Sony) looks to pass $50 million in U.S./Canada gross. The rest likely end up at $25 million or lower.
With international grosses and non-theatrical play, some may break even. But results needed to be better to improve current box office and encourage more non-franchise production.
The hope for both “Heart Eyes” (Sony) and “Love Hurts” (Universal) was original ideas that inventively mix genres could click. As Super Bowl counterprogramming, they might benefit from the upcoming Valentine’s Day and the Presidents Day four-day weekend. However, with $8.5 million and $5.8 million respectively, and “Captain America: Brave New World” (Disney) along with “Paddington in Peru” (Sony) to come next weekend, neither looks likely to thrive.
That’s a real disappointment. Both films were risks for their studios. “Heart Eyes” (produced by Spyglass, acquired by Sony) is a hybrid rom-com/slasher movie with positive reviews. “Love Hurts” stars two recent supporting-actor Oscar winners with Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose. It’s an action comedy that attempted to capture the feel of “Knives Out,” but received horrendous reviews.
“Becoming Led Zeppelin” (Sony Pictures Classics) in only 369 theaters for $2.7 million, was good enough for seventh place. Among holdovers, only the long-running #4 “Mufasa: The Lion King” (Disney) dropped less than 40 percent. The second weekend of “Companion” (Warner Bros. Discovery) fell 68 percent.
Four of the top 10 are animated films and not an Oscar nominee is among them. Searchlight’s “A Complete Unknown” is best at #11 with $1.2 million.
“Parthenope” (A24) from Paolo Sorrentino (“A Great Beauty”) saw a weak debut with $32,000 in four New York/Los Angeles theaters. The expanding “I’m Still Here” (Sony Pictures Classics) is doing much better, with over $1 million in 704 theaters and $2.3 million total so far. This may be the biggest box-office winner of the awards season; it could easily have been a sub-$1 million grosser despite its excellent reviews.
The self-distributed “No Other Land” expanded in week two to 22 theaters with a decent $96,000. Norwegian Cannes Camera D’Or winner “Armand” (IFC) grossed $23,000, opening in two theaters. A reissue of Jean-Luc Godard’s “A Woman Is a Woman” did a decent $11,000 in one New York location.
Top 10
1. Dog Man (Universal) Week 2; Last weekend #1
$13,700,000 (-62%) in 3,887 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $3,525; Cumulative: $54,102,000
2. Heart Eyes (Sony) NEW – Cinemascore: B-; Metacritic: 62; Est. budget: $18 million
$8,500,000 in 3,102 theaters; PTA: $2,740; Cumulative: $8,500,000
3. Love Hurts (Univeral) NEW – Cinemascore: C+; Metacritic: 35; Est. budget: $18 million
$6,875,000 in 3,055 theaters; PTA: $1,899; Cumulative: $6,875,000
4. Mufasa: The Lion King (Disney) Week 8; Last weekend #3
$3,924,000 (-38%) in 2,945 (-235) theaters; PTA: $1,322; Cumulative: $235,206,000
5. Companion (WB) Week 2; Last weekend #2
$3,020,000 (-68%) in 3,285 (no change) theaters; PTA: $919; Cumulative: $15,487,000
6. One of Them Days (Sony) Week 4; Last weekend #4
$3,000,000 (-49%) in 2,051 (-255) theaters; PTA: $1,462; Cumulative: $39,372,000
7. Becoming Led Zeppelin (Sony Pictures Classics) NEW – Metacritic: 66
$2,627,000 in 369 theaters; PTA: $7,119; Cumulative: $2,627,000
8. Flight Risk (Lionsgate) Week 3; Last weekend #5
$2,600,000 (-52%) in 2,740 (-421) theaters; PTA: $949; Cumulative: $25,199,000
9. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Paramount) Week 8; Last weekend #6; also on PVOD
$1,750,000 (-46%) in 2,061 (-604) theaters; PTA: $849; Cumulative: $233,094,000
10. Moana 2 (Disney) Week 11; Last weekend #7; also on PVOD
$1,544,000 (-46%) in 1,785 (-415) theaters; PTA: $865; Cumulative: $456,118,000
Other specialized/independent titles
Films (limited, expansions of limited) are listed by week in release, starting with those opened this week; after the first three weeks, only films with grosses over $5,000 are listed. Metacritic scores and initial film festivals recorded when available. After week two, per theater averages only listed for expanding films with under 100 theaters.
OPENING (platform)
Parthenope (A24) NEW – Metacritic: 54; Festivals include: Cannes 2024
$31,906 in 4 theaters; PTA: $7,977
Armand (IFC) NEW – Metacritic: 64; Festivals include: Cannes 2024
$23,000 in 2 theaters; PTA: $11,500
A Woman is a Woman (Rialto) REISSUE
$11,000 in 1 theater; PTA: $11,000
OPENING (wide)
Parasite (Neon) REISSUE
$326,000 in 279 theaters; PTA: $1,689
HOLDOVERS
No Other Land (no distributor) Week 2
$96,150 in 22 (+21) theaters; PTA: $4,370; Cumulative: $144,613
Presence (Neon) Week 3
$305,000 in 586 (-1,153) theaters; Cumulative: $6,662,000
I’m Still Here (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 4
$1,061,000 at 704 (+611) theaters; Cumulative: $2,316,000
The Last Showgirl (Roadside Attractions) Week 5 142
$75,590 in 83 (-59) theaters; Cumulative: $4,603,000
A Complete Unknown (Searchlight) Week 7
$1,241,000 in 1,305 (-210) theaters; Cumulative: $69,017,000
Nosferatu (Focus) Week 7; also on PVOD
$300,000 in 467 (-516) theaters; Cumulative: $95,385,000
Babygirl (A24) Week 7; also on PVOD
$122,595 in 152 (-156) theaters; Cumulative: $27,968,000
The Brutalist (A24) Week 8
$914,388 in 1,115 (-497) theaters; Cumulative: $13,727,000
The Room Next Door (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 8
$33,588 in 52 (-42) theaters; Cumulative: $2,321,000
September 5 (Paramount) Week 8; also on PVOD
$118,000 in 202 (-196) theaters; Cumulative: $2,642,000
The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Neon) Week 10
$31,500 in 87 (-163) theaters; Cumulative: $747,807
Flow (Janus/Sideshow) Week 11; also on VOD
$96,000 in 161 (no change) theaters; Cumulative: $4,068,000
A Real Pain (Searchlight) Week 15; also on VOD
$21,000 in 35 (-145) theaters; Cumulative: $8,336,000
Conclave (Focus) Week 16; also on VOD and streaming
$35,000 in 234 (-13) theaters; Cumulative: $32,099,000
Anora (Neon) Week 17; also on VOD
$53,700 in 229 (-18) theaters; Cumulative: $15,308,000
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