The A24 election-year gamble, the indie studio’s biggest budgeted film yet, took in
Its provocative premise – and A24’s marketing, which included images of
But it was a painfully slow weekend in theaters – the kind sure to add to concern over what’s thus far been a down year for
Going into the weekend, Universal Pictures’ “Abigail,” a critically acclaimed R-rated horror film about the daughter of Dracula, had been expected to lead ticket sales. It came in second with
That was still a fair result for a film that cost a modest
More concerning was the overall tepid response for a handful of new wide releases – and the likelihood that there will be more similar weekends throughout 2024. Last year’s actors and writers' strikes, which had a prolonged effect on the movie pipeline, exacerbated holes in Hollywood’s release schedule.
Horror films, in recent years among the most reliable cash cows in theaters, also haven’t thus far been doing the automatic business they previous did. According to
Guy Ritchie’s “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” debuted with
Though Ritchie has been behind numerous box-office hits, including the live-action “Aladdin” and a pair of
A bright sign for “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare”: audiences liked it. The film earned an A-minus CinemaScore.
The anime “Spy x Family Code: White,” from Sony’s Crunchyroll, also struggled to stand out with audiences. Though the adaptation of the Tatsuya Endo manga TV series “Spy x Family” has already been a hit with international moviegoers, it debuted below expectations with
The mightiest film globally, though, continues to be “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.” The Warner Bros. monster movie has for the past month led worldwide ticket sales. It added another
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at
1. “Civil War,”
2. “Abigail,”
3. “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,”
4. “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,”
5. “Spy x Family Code: White,”
6. “Kung Fu Panda 4,"
7. “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,”
8. “Dune: Part Two,”
9. “Monkey Man,”
10. “The First Omen,”
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