On this Super Bowl weekend, we have three new releases entering the top five of the box office.
Coming in first this weekend is Kenneth Branagh’s murder mystery “Death on the Nile,” which grossed $12.8 million. The ensemble film was is with controversy, as one of its stars Armie Hammer is facing numerous sexual abuse allegations. Branagh did not end up cutting Hammer’s role, but he was largely eliminated from the film’s marketing efforts. In the end, we will never know if this situation has affected the film’s end box office revenue. All we do know is that with a reported $90 million budget, the chance of “Death on the Nile” making a profit are quite limited. Though the Super Bowl may have limited its gross this weekend, its average critical reception and oncoming new releases make it very unlikely that the film will have good legs these next few weeks. Ultimately, I think “Death on the Nile” will close around $40 million domestically.
In second place this weekend was last week’s top movie, “Jackass Forever.” The stunt and prank comedy film grossed just below $8.1 million. With that gross, the film dropped 65.2% from last weekend, which is a little steep. That being said, the film has now grossed over $37 million domestically on a $10 million budget. Because of this, the film has already likely guaranteed a profit, so steep drops are not the end of the world. “Jackass Forever” will likely close around $60 million domestically.
Coming in third this weekend is another new release, “Marry Me” which earned $8 million. The romantic comedy starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson was concurrently released on the streaming platform Peacock, which may have impacted its box office results. Romantic comedies have not fared particularly well at the pandemic theatrical marketplace, being one of the genres that was largely sent to streaming. Though the film grossed relatively little, there are two things going for “Marry Me.” First, Valentine’s Day is this Monday, and though we won’t have the finalized data by this article’s release, it will likely receive a boost from the Valentine’s Day crowd. Additionally, the movie has a reported $23 million budget, which means Universal is not taking much of a loss forgoing box office returns to put it on streaming. Factoring in the film’s Valentine’s Day boost, the movie will likely close around $30 million domestically.
Coming in fourth and fifth place this weekend are box office king “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and new release “Blacklight.” “Spider-Man” grossed another $7.2 million this weekend, moving to $759 million domestically. The superhero film is now less than $1 million away from eclipsing “Avatar” at the all-time domestic box office. “No Way Home” will likely become the 3rd highest grossing film domestically, sometime this week. The Liam Neeson-helmed “Blacklight” grossed $3.6 million this weekend. The movie got absolutely horrific reviews, meaning it likely will have a large drop next weekend.
Next week brings the release of two new films, “Uncharted” and “Dog.” The former has more buzz, starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg and likely will gross around $20 million. “Dog” is directed by and starring Channing Tatum but has significantly less buzz, making me believe it will only gross around $5 million.
It was another interesting week at the box office, and we look forward to see how next week’s movies will far at the theatrical marketplace.
