tl;dr Furiosa’s $25 million opening was lower than the expected $40 million that its predecessor Fury Road opened with. Could lose money on its $168 million budget.
Lower budgeted family friendly Garfield well on its way to profit on its reported $60 million budget.
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“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” $25.6 million.
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“The Garfield Movie,” $24.8 million.
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“IF,” $16.1 million.
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“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” $13.4 million.
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“The Fall Guy,” $5.9 million.
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“The Strangers: Chapter 1,” $5.6 million.
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“Sight,” $2.7 million.”
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“Challengers,” $1.4 million.
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“Babes,” $1.1 million.
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“Back to Black,” $1.1 million.
So in the era of assigned seats, i wonder if maybe there somewhere I could go to find out each theater’s expected time from nominal start to actual start.
I only see a couple of movies in cinemas per year, but I still have that instinct that I need to be there on time, even though logically I know I have a ton of wiggle room. I think if I knew more going in, I’d be more sanguine about strolling in late like some sort of savvy YOLO Zoomer.
It would be great to know in advance. However, ours was delayed due to the tight run times. The movie let out 5 mins before ours started. They still had to clean the room. At this point I say, watch them at home.
I do think that Covid accelerated a trend in movies. I think the auteurs and aficionados always overestimated the inherent “magic” of going to a movie theater, and ultimately a decent TV, maybe a little on the big side and definitively in HD, is more than enough for most people to enjoy your average drama or comedy. If people actually want a dark room and no breaks, that’ll do that. If they want to watch with their friends, that’ll do that.
I think over time we’re going to see movie theaters being treated more like live theater or fountain pens, where they continue to exist for the true enthusiasts and those few use cases where their unique traits (for movie theaters, that’s giant screen, giant speakers, dark room, and a culture of STFU) actually enhances the product enough to overcome the inefficiencies. I am quite sure that my inability to appreciate Fury Road stems partly from having seen it on a 7” airplane screen.
I wish movie theaters aggressively enforced the stfu culture, but the bankrupt Arclight is the only theater I’ve been in where a disruptive person was actually told to get the fuck out.
Yeah, my last few theater experiences weren’t great. Toddlers screaming and adults talking on their phone (note: neither we’re kids movies). I’m sorry, but that’s not the experience I shelled out a bunch of money for. The home 65" might not be as immersive, but it’s quiet and I can pause it to to go pee and that’s a massive win in my book.
Be in your seat 15 minutes after the published start and you will be fine.