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SUNDAY AM: It is a sunny day at the David Zaslav-led Warner Bros Discovery today, for after a downer summer with Furiosa, Horizon, et al, the Burbank, CA lot is rising like a phoenix as Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice grossed $42M on Saturday — essentially even with Friday/previews– for what’s shaping up to be a $110M+ opening if not more. In its opening weekend, as expected, the Michael Keaton-Winona Ryder-Catherine O’Hara sequel which has the further boost of Jenna Ortega’s marquee draw easily outgrossed the lifetime total (unadjusted for inflation) of the original 1988 movie which made $74.7M. Warner Bros will report their official numbers later this AM.
Months ago, in long-lede tracking Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was projected to do $100M, and Warner Bros. kept that momentum up in its promos delivering the second highest opening of September after their New Line It‘s $123.4M record star for the month back in 2017.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is currently the second-highest opening for Burton after Alice in Wonderland‘s $116.1M. If the movie has a fantastic hold today, well north of -30% and $30M+, then it could be a record opening for Warner Bros.’ original Batman director. What could slow business today is that it’s the first Sunday of NFL.
For Ortega — on technical basis, it’s her second best opening after Iron Man 3‘s $174.1M (she played the vice president’s daughter in that movie), however, on a star-billed basis, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is easily her the best start she’s had as a lead actress.
Hands down, it’s the best opening ever for Ryder ahead of 2009’s Star Trek ($75M) and 2002’s Mr. Deeds ($37M).
Interestingly enough, even though they could have, Warners did not stunt the sequel at San Diego Comic-Con opting for a Venice Film Festival launch. An enormous part of the campaign was harnessing Ortega’s 38M-plus social media wattage, as well as exciting the franchise’s female demo.
Warner Bros dropped the first teaser a week before Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire on March 22 followed by a first trailer timed to Furiosa and the second trailer on July 18.
Warners has yet to report their figures.
EARLY SATURDAY AM: Warner Bros hasn’t released their official figures yet, but we’re seeing Beetlejuice Beetlejuice at $41.5M+ on Friday (including $13M previews) on its way to $100M+. Is there a world where this hits in the high $90Ms? Possibly, and that doesn’t mean this movie fails, as it’s still the second best start September has ever seen — among other records which we’ll call on Sunday AM. Currently, the belief is that Saturday holds -15% off Friday for a $36M take.
And even in the high $90Ms, damn, that’s a great place for the industry to be next to last year when the actors strike prevented casts from promoting, which drained all the blood from the box office. This weekend for all films is expected to total $138.5M, +57% from the same frame a year ago when Nun II debuted, that entire Fri-Sun span grossing $88.3M per Box Office Mojo. Furthermore given the opening here for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: There’s a business in sequels to legacy movies with original castmembers and actors/actresses appealing to today’s 18-34 year olds. Yes, Star Wars: Force Awakens and Top Gun: Maverick also proved that.
If Beetlejuice Beetlejuice eases back it’s because it’s largely female skewing at 58%, and audience that can pull back on a movie’s second day of release as a multitude already showed up on day one. However, countering that business trajectory is the walk-up business from Latino and Hispanic moviegoers who are currently showing up per Screen Engine/Comscore’s PostTrak at 34%. Exits also show a massive 60% of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice‘s crowd bought tickets same day.
CinemaScore is B+ which is a half step up from the original 1988 movie’s B grade. Blockbusters can be built off B+s. Why not an A? Fans are precious. One should also note that Jenna Ortega’s Scream and Scream VI also received B+. PostTrak audiences surveyed last night said that 25% of the audience went for the actress team of Ortega and Winona Ryder, while 41% bought tickets because it’s a franchise they love, 38% attended because it’s a cast they love (so crucial in reviving interest in this legacy franchise), 30% for director Tim Burton, while 27% went for Michael Keaton.
PostTrak grades were 81% positive with a 68% definite recommend with 49% of the audience between 18-34 years old and 45% of the audience 35+ years old with the largest demo being 25-34 years old at 29%. Other diversity draws were 45% Caucasian, 11% Black, 4% Asian and 6% Native America/other. Business for the sequel is coast to coast with the AMC Burbank the top grossing venue in the nation with north of $131K so far. Imax and PLF screens are repping 36% of ticket sales to date.
Meanwhile, no one is going to A24’s The Front Room with around $600K today, for a $1.5M opening at 2,095 theaters in the 10th spot. Cinemascore is a C- and PostTrak was ticked off at 43% positive and a ‘must avoid’ with a 34% definite recommend. Clearly not a hip title for the hipster distributor which has all its hip here at TIFF this weekend with the Florence Pugh-Andrew Garfield romance We Live in Time and the horror movie Heretic, directed by A Quiet Place scribes Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. Fifty-two percent men to 48% females with 57% of the audience between 18-34 years old and the largest quad being 25-34 years old at 31%. Diversity demos were 48% Caucasian, 31% Black, 9% Latino and 11% Asian. Highest grossing theater for The Front Room was the Regal Atlantic Station with around $7K. Any business is being done in the East and South for this horror movie.
We’ll have the chart for you later on.
MIDDAY UPDATE: Warner Bros.’ Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is eyeing a $38M first day at this point in time, which includes previews, on its way to a $90M-$95M opening. There is a path to $40M-plus today and $100M-plus for the weekend, however, that all hinges on the continued momentum of walk-up business.
The only movie to deliver a first day north of $40M, and an opening between $90M-$99M is 2017’s The Fate of the Furious which posted a first day of $45.6M and 3-day of $98.7M.
As solid as last night’s previews were for the Michael Keaton-Jenna Ortega-Winona Ryder-Catherine O’Hara movie, the first night of NFL football with the Kansas City Chiefs win and the whole Taylor Swift appearance of it all certainly kept cash out of Warner coffers, but the anticipation is that ground will be recovered.
Anything north of $91M and less than $123.4M makes Beetlejuice Beetlejuice the second highest opening for September, still worth Warners bragging about. The Tim Burton directed sequel is booked in 4,575 venues. Note there are few female skewing PG-13 franchise sequels to comp to for the month of September, however, the latest figures are reminiscent of Disney’s live-action feature take of another 1980s feature, The Little Mermaid from last year (Friday was $38.1M, 3-day was $95.5M).
Second place got to Disney/Marvel’s seventh weekend of Deadpool & Wolverine with $1.8M today, $6.7M for the weekend, -57%, at 1,800 for a running total of $613.5M.
Showbiz Direct’s Reagan, which finished the week with $13.3M, third among the competition, but was No. 1 yesterday with $845K, is eyeing $1.35M in its second Friday for a $4.7M second frame, -39% for a ten-day of $18M.
20th Century Studios’ Alien: Romulus at 2,560 is eyeing a fourth Friday of $1.1M, fourth weekend of $4M, -57%, in fourth for a running total of $97.2M. The movie is currently the second highest grossing in the Ridley Scott produced franchise stateside after Prometheus ($126.4M).
Sony’s It Ends With Us booked at 2,850 sites has a fifth Friday of $1.1M as well, 3-day of $3.7M and running total by Sunday of $141.3M.
A24’s horror movie The Front Room, which is 48% Rotten with Rotten Tomatoes critics, is fizzling with $500K at 2,095 venues for an estimated $1.15M opening weekend. Yikes.
UPDATED AFTER EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros is officially reporting $13M for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. High exits scores from fans last night at 4 1/2 stars on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak and 5 stars from both parents and kids under 12. Currently, the projection for the sequel is $90M — with potential for upside.
Females made a date with the Michael Keaton-Jenna Ortega-Winona Ryder sequel at 59% with 73% being over 25. Girls also outnumbered boys, 62% to 38% among the kids. A very strong turnout by Latino and Hispanic moviegoers last night at 36%.
RelishMix says that the social media reach for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is 41% ahead of action comedy sci-fi genre norms with 508.6M followers across TikTok, Facebook, X, YouTube and Instagram combined.
“Jenna Ortega has throttled 103.1M Instagram views to her 38.2M fans, supported by Monica Bellucci with 6.2M fans, Michael Keaton at 1.58M and Willem Dafoe at 155K,” adds the social media analytics firm.
They also add, “Convo for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice runs positive with viewers highlighting how unique and special this film feels, a rare accomplishment for a sequel. Fans include new viewers excited to see star Jenna Ortega in a new horror film, saying, ‘First I thought this was the Wednesday Season 2, then I thought it was another Scream movie. Ortega’s films have a certain vibe, but I LOVE it,’ to longtime lovers of the 1988 original saying, ‘My inner child from the 80’s is screaming! I’ve never been more excited for a movie than this one!’ People have noted their appreciation for the practical effects and craftsmanship on display, sharing, ‘I appreciate the practical effects and the attempts to make it look like the old movie!!'”
There’s guaranteed to be plenty of fan dress-up at theaters this weekend.
Some of the clever exhibitor tie-ins include Bob from the movie, working at Cinemark:
There’s also a ton of collectible concessions. To rival the Sandworm and Wolverine popcorn buckets, there’s a Beetlejuice jack-in-the-box popcorn bucket at Cinemark.
EXCLUSIVE: The long-awaited sequel to the Tim Burton-directed, Michael Keaton starring movie has racked up some $12M in both Wednesday and Thursday night previews; a very good number.
While apples to oranges in terms of when the preview cash was made, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice‘s pre- Friday dough is not far from the $13.5M racked up by 2017’s It, which went on to hold the opening record for September at $123.4M, and it’s ahead of the $10.5M previews made by It: Chapter Two in 2019 which holds the second highest opening for September with $91M.
Tonight’s figures are according to sources.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice previews are currently in line with Dune: Part Two‘s $12M, which included $4.5M from an Imax preshow program. That Denis Villeneuve directed movie went on to open to $82.5M. Here’s the difference: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice skews very female, while Dune: Part Two leaned mostly males at 65%. Interestingly enough, the sequel’s preview B.O. is ahead of Wonder Woman‘s $11M preview cash. In addition, expect the Latino and Hispanic audience to overindex on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. We’re hearing by tomorrow morning the Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega, Catherine O’Hara movie is bound to come in higher than what we’re seeing now.
Wednesday fan previews played in Dolby, Imax and other formats at 1,000 locations while Thursday previews starting at 3 p.m.
Rotten Tomatoes critics score for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice stands at 78% certified fresh while the audience score is at 87%. The original 1988 movie on RT is 82% both with critics and crowds. Burton hasn’t made a lot of sequels during his career, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice being the second after 1992’s Batman Returns.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice stateside has the widest release this year at 4,500 theaters including premium formats Imax, ScreenX, 4DX, Dolby, Dbox and PLFs.
We’ll have more updates as they come.
