We’re not sure how many film fans out there actually care, but this weekend marks the annual Super Bowl weekend, where moviegoers skip the multiplex on Sunday and stay inside to watch the two best NFL teams duke it out for world supremacy. And due to this massive television event, the weekend box office during this time is usually much weaker. However, 2019’s Super Bowl weekend is the weakest in almost 20 years.
Last week, we knew that this weekend was going to be small, in relation to the massive weekend’s we’ve had so far this year. However, with “Miss Bala” being the only new major film to debut, and the Gina Rodriguez-starring film being softer than anticipated, this weekend’s total box office is estimated to hover around $70 million. That number is the weakest Super Bowl weekend in 19 years. Kinda makes you wonder what would have happened if a major studio put a tentpole film here? Definitely wouldn’t break records, probably, but clearly, there was some money left on the table.
As mentioned, “Miss Bala” was the lone debut this weekend, and bad reviews seemed to kill all buzz, leaving the film with a below-average $6.7 million debut. Sony was clearly hoping the Latinx market would come through and surprise everyone with a strong #1 showing. Instead, the 27% Rotten Tomatoes score probably scared off potential audiences, combined with the aforementioned sporting event, leaving the action film with a soft #3 debut. And with four major debuts next weekend, covering horror, comedy, action, and animated genres, expect “Miss Bala” to sink pretty fast. However, one bright spot is the fact that Sony only spent $15 to cover the film’s production budget, so it’s a fairly shallow hole the studio has to climb out of to make money.
The big news this weekend is the fact that “Glass,” “The Upside,” “Aquaman,” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” continue to post fairly low drops and earn good money through these slow winter weekends. “The Upside,” in particular, has displayed ridiculous legs through 4 weekends. The largest drop the Kevin Hart film has experienced during this last month was only -26% in its second weekend, thanks to fairly week competition.
Also, even though we’re at the end of the film’s 8th weekend, “Spider-Verse” continues to earn good money. Now, the animated ‘Spider-Man’ film, which we were originally concerned about, has earned a very good $175 million. With Oscar buzz building, the film is likely to inch closer and closer to $200 million domestically, which would be nothing short of spectacular.
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The only other major story this weekend is the fact that Peter Jackson’s “They Shall Not Grow Old,” the WWI documentary that earned a respectable amount during special screenings at the end of 2018 was re-released in 735 locations and earned an additional $2.4 million, bringing it’s domestic total to $10.7 million. Just for comparison’s sake, Jackson’s “Mortal Engines,” which he produced and co-wrote, only earned $16 million domestically.
And for your weekly “Aquaman” update, the fish man movie continues to earn milestones for WB. This weekend, the domestic total for the film, which currently stands at $323 million, has eclipsed the domestic total of “Iron Man,” which kickstarted the MCU. In the coming weekends, the film will likely pass some superhero heavy hitters on the domestic charts like “Suicide Squad,” “Batman v. Superman,” “Deadpool 2,” and the original “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Depending on how week it keeps doing in light of the upcoming competition, “Aquaman” might actually pass the domestic totals of “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “Spider-Man 3.”
Next weekend, as alluded to earlier, sees four new major debuts, with “The LEGO Movie 2,” “The Prodigy,” “Cold Pursuit,” and “What Men Want.” Obviously, ‘LEGO’ will lead the way, but with tons of counter-programming, we’ll see how the rest of the top 10 gets rocked thanks to these films.
Here’s the full list of top 10 films for February 1 to February 3:
1. Glass – $9.5M ($88.6M Overall)
2. The Upside – $8.85M ($76M)
3. Miss Bala – $6.7M (Debut)
4. Aquaman – $4.8M ($323M)
5. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – $4.4M ($175M)
6. Green Book – $4.3M ($56M)
7. The Kid Who Would Be King – $4.2M ($13M)
8. A Dog’s Way Home – $3.5M ($36M)
9. Escape Room – $2.6 ($52M)
10. They Shall Not Grow Old – $2.4M ($10.7M)