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SUNDAY AM Writethru: Refresh for more analysis… Families continue to flock to theaters this fall: Not only is Wild Robot posting the third best opening for an animated movie in September with $35M after an $11.3M Friday (including near $2M previews), but Warner Bros’ Beetlejuice Beetlejuice refuses to die with a -37% fourth weekend estimated hold, $16.3M take and a running total of $250.3M by EOD. The sequel is on the edge of becoming Tim Burton’s second highest grossing movie at the domestic box office, overtaking 1989’s Batman ($251.4M), and filing behind Alice in Wonderland ($334.1M).
Wild Robot received a solid A CinemaScore and 96% positive/62% definite recommend on Comscore/Screen Engine’s Postrak. It’s the 25th time that a DWA title has led the box office. The pic’s opening currently ranks behind September’s top two animated openings, Sony’s Hotel Transylvania 2 ($48.4M) and Hotel Transylvania ($42.5M).
Beamed Universal Domestic Distribution Chief Jim Orr, “Chris Sanders’ The Wild Robot is a stellar example of incredible storytelling in animation that audiences of all ages crave, as this emotional, exciting, vibrant tale led by the talent of the amazing Lupita Nyong’o delivered tremendous results at the domestic box office this weekend. With audience and critical reaction scores off the chart, we anticipate a very long, successful theatrical run.”
Universal was very passionate about this movie, not only positioning for awards season, but having tubthumped Wild Robot during the Olympics and Paralympics among myriad marketing stunts including a live robot voiced by Nyong’o at San Diego Comic-Con and a TIFF world premiere. With a social media universe of 342M followers across TikTok, YouTube, X, Instagram and Facebook, Wild Robot‘s online reach was running 10% above family animation comps before release per RelishMix. Nyong’o delivered 20.4M fans to The Wild Robot push along with co-stars Mark Hamill at 13.7M and Kit Connor at 9.7M.
Observed RelishMix about the chatter for the feature take of the New York Times bestseller: “Convo for The Wild Robot is running incredibly positive with outstanding excitement for a ‘striking’ DreamWorks film that is ‘better than Disney.’ Fans are exhilarated to see a new film be released by the same trusted company who created their childhood favorites, ‘Well, we know that anything that Chris Sanders touches turns to gold. Thank you for Lilo and Stitch, How To Train Your Dragon, and The Croods.’ More praise arises through the emotional trailer alone which has amassed over 300M global views, ‘Sometimes, to survive, we must become more than we were programmed to be. That’s profound. It hit me in the heart. This is going to be relatable.'”
IMAX and PLF screens are driving 43% of the ticket sales right now for Wild Robot which is playing strong everywhere, but best in the Mountain and the West areas. AMC Burbank is the pic’s top grossing multiplex with around $31K so far.
It’s clear that the 33% families attending this movie have a complete awareness of what the IP is, and have been yearning a bit more to see it versus Paramount’s Transformers One which unfortunately had a hard tumble in the crowded family autumn space with a projected $9M in weekend 2, -63%, and running ten-day of $38.8M. Note, Wild Robot did steal away all the large format auditoriums (Megalopolis has evening showtimes).
Meanwhile, Lionsgate’s release of Francis Ford Coppola’s $120M self-financed Megalopolis is tanking as expected with a studio-reported $4M 3-day in 6th place and a D+ Cinemascore from moviegoers after a $1.8M Friday that includes $770K previews. Imax and PLFs, I hear repped 41% of the pic’s weekend ticket sales. Comscore/Screen Engine PostTrak exits are one star, 49% positive. As we told you yesterday, the Indian action movie Devara Part One which is in fewer theaters at 1,040 theaters is beating the Coppola pic with around $6.4M in 4th place. And the Coppola pic arguably had more press.
Why did moviegoers go to the critically panned Megalopolis? Of those polled, 61% said it was because of Coppola. Thirty-two percent heard it was entertaining and fun, while 29% went because of Adam Driver. Only 9% bought tickets because they heard the movie “was good”.
We’ve wrote constantly how Lionsgate, which has been suffering a huge box office bomb streak, will come out of Megalopolis without any bruises since the movie was a distribution deal. Sure, it doesn’t help that Megalopolis is a part of this cluster, and God knows how Lionsgate’s motion picture revenue/EBITDA will look for the quarter ending Sept. 30 with these cinematic casualties that include Borderlands, The Crow, The Killer’s Game and Never Let Go. However, Megalopolis given its bad word of mouth promptly out of Cannes and further acerbated at TIFF, would have been an uphill climb for any major studio tackling the film given these exit scores.
We’ve said this before, but the reality of the motion picture industry is more glaring: It’s amazing that the Coppola movie is even seeing the light of day on the big screen given the bad reviews and the fact that there wasn’t a suitor that would pony up enough to acquire it. Currently, coming out of the strikes and the fall film festivals, there’s a multitude of star-driven independent films that don’t have any buyers or distribution — even a year after making a big splash at 2023’s fall film festival troika. One major agency, I’m told, counts some 40 unsold features. Natch, it all boils down to what distributors want to pay, and whether the seller wants to take such lowball offers. Keep in mind that Coppola still owns the movie by having it go via a distribution deal. For Lionsgate, it’s a library play in the short term (they’ve handled Coppola’s director’s cuts of late, i.e. Apocalypse Now Final Cut, The Conversation, The Cotton Club Encore, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, and One From the Heart: Reprise). Theatrical is the big advertisement for this movie for many to catch it and watch from home on their couch, given how bad the reviews and audience exits are. The business rationale for Lionsgate is that there’s a cult intrigue for the movie for those preferring to watch Megalopolis from their couch.
Those taking a chance on Megalopolis were 70% men, with the biggest demo being 25-34 year olds at 32%, and 38% of the audience over 35. Diversity demos are 66% Caucasian, 18% Latino and Hispanic, 5% Black, and 7% Asian. The Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Natalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito movie counts whatever cash it has from the East and West with AMC Lincoln Square the pic’s highest grossing cinema so far with just over $48K.
Pre-release social media universe SMU stats measured by RelishMix on the Coppola dystopian movie counted 62M, which was 59% below high-concept sci-fi dramas across TikTok, Facebook, X, YouTube and Instagram combined.
RelishMix noticed on Megalopolis, “Certainly, film-o-files are pre-booked for this Coppola masterclass, but the snark-patrol is on the prowl, uncertain of where this theatrical experience will take them — with concerns about the film’s overall impact and Coppola’s claims about it being his best work. Concerns about the film’s financial viability are also prevalent, with a comment predicting. Others are wary of the digital cinematography, noting that it makes their ‘eyes hurt’ and lacks the natural look of an analogue film. Some remain cautiously optimistic, planning to watch it in theaters due to Coppola’s legacy, with one saying, ‘I don’t know if it is going to be good or bad, but I am going to the cinema because FFC put his money on it.’ The overall sentiment is a mix of intrigue and apprehension, with many acknowledging the film’s potential to either become a cult classic or a misunderstood miss.”
Meanwhile, Columbia Pictures’ awards season entry, Saturday Night from Academy Award nominee Jason Reitman began the first phase of its three-step platform release this weekend with an exclusive release in five theaters in Los Angeles and New York grossing $107K on Friday, another $88K on Saturday for a $265K opening weekend and $53K theater average. That’s easily the second-best opening theater average YTD behind Searchlight’s Kinds of Kindness ($75,4K) and ahead of Marvel Studio/Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine ($50K). Very good ticket sales I hear from the AMC Burbank, AMC Lincoln Square, Alamo Brooklyn, AMC Century City and AMC Grove.
Other notables (updating):
–The Dinesh D’Souza, Debbie D’Souza and Bruce Schooley directed documentary, Vindicating Trump, at 813 venues from SDG Releasing did $337K yesterday for a projected 3-day of $816K. That’s not as big as the opening of right-winger Matt Walsh’s documentary, Am I Racist? which filed $4.5M. Moderate numbers for Vindicating Trump in Sacramento, Phoenix, Las Vegas, LA and Dallas. It’s a pro-Trump rah rah movie which follows the former POTUS uphill battles with his media image.
Roadside Attractions has the Kate Winslet starring and produced Lee about American photographer Lee Miller, who was a fashion model turned acclaimed Vogue war correspondent during World War II. The Pic at 854 locations did $230K yesterday on its way to an estimated $616K. Reviews are in the middle at 62% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Semi good news: Overall weekend is at $95M for all titles, which is 16% ahead of last weekend’s $81.7M, and 11% ahead of the same frame a year ago when Paramount/Spinmaster’s Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie led the chart with a $22.7M opening.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON: DreamWorks/Universal’s The Wild Robot is currently overperforming according to Friday afternoon projections, evidence of the IP’s popularity with kids. The Chris Sanders movie is eyeing $11.3M today, including last night’s near $2M, for a 3-day of $35M at 3,962. That’s more than what big brands Transformers One pulled in last weekend ($24.6M) and what DWA/Uni’s own Trolls Band Together did back in mid-November a year ago ($30M). Remember that Wild Robot has all the Imax and PLFs during the day.
Warner Bros.’ Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is letting up with an estimated $15.5M fourth weekend, a -40% ease at 3,804 for a running total near $250M by Sunday. Friday is looking like $4M for the Michael Keaton-Winona Ryder-Jenna Ortega-Catherine O’Hara movie.
Ranking third, Paramount’s Transformers One at 3,970 sites is looking at $2.5M in its second Friday and $10M in weekend 2, a -59% decline, for a ten-day of $39.8M.
Fourth belongs to Prathyangira Cinema’s action drama movie Devara Part 1 at 1,040 sites with a $4M Friday and $6.3M 3-day. The movie which stars Oscar winner RRR‘s N.T. Rama Rao Jr. in dual roles is outshining Lionsgate release of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis at 1,854 locations which is doing $2M today, and $3.2M-$5M for the weekend. Again, the movie which The Godfather filmmaker bet on himself to make was never meant to turn cartwheels at the box office, even if it was in bigger hands than Lionsgate here. The pic faced an uphill battle coming out of Cannes. No matter what one’s opinion is of the movie, it is quite a spectacle, especially if you catch one of the live meta Imax shows with the live actor in around 34 metro locations in the country including LA’s TCL Chinese and AMC Century City and NYC’s Regal Union Square and AMC’s Lincoln Square which is billed “The Ultimate Experience.” The movie won’t appear on PVOD in the next three weeks and likely won’t be available in home until the holidays.
Below is the trailer for Devara Part 1 which clocks close to three hours versus Megalopolis which has a running time of 2 hours and 18 minutes.
FRIDAY AM: DreamWorks Animation/Universal’s The Wild Robot grossed $1.95M yesterday from showtimes that began at 2PM in 3,000 theaters.
The Lupita Nyong’o voiced movie is expected to lead the box office with a $20M+ take, and that preview take indicates that given previous DWA comps, read it’s higher than Trolls Band Together ($1.3M) which resulted in a $9.3M opening day and $30M opening, and it’s above The Bad Guys which did $1.15M in previews, a $7.98M opening day and a $23.9M opening.
Out of the gate, great PostTrak for The Wild Robot with 5 stars from general audiences, 4 1/2 stars from parents and five stars from kids under 12. General audiences numbered 72%, parents repped 18% and kids 10% last night. More men with the general audience at 53%, while moms outnumbered dads, 58% to 42%; and kids under 12 were mostly girls at 53% as expected. The Wild Robot is based on Peter Brown’s award-winning, #1 New York Times bestseller. The movie cost a net of $78M before P&A spend.
Lionsgate’s release of Francis Ford Coppola/Zoetrope’s $120M self-financed Megalopolis did $770k which includes Monday’s live Imax event. We told you that alone grossed around $300K. The film opens today at 1,854 theatres across North America, including 238 IMAX screens and 45 Premium Large Format Screens.
As far as recent comps go, many point to another filmmaker $100M-plus financed bomb, Horizon, from Kevin Costner which did $800K in previews for a $4.09M first day, $11M opening back in late June.
No one is expecting Megalopolis to do well, pegged to open between $5M-$7M; clearly a big loss with the red ink falling on the Coppola winery proprietor. Already Thursday night exits are bad with a 1/2 star and 45% positive on PostTrak — not a lot of big starry movies get that. What can be celebrated is that the 5x Oscar winning 85-year old winning filmmaker is seeing is cinematic dream get a theatrical release, and not sidelined and lost on streaming. Lionsgate has no skin in the game; they’re merely the distributor with Coppola handling the cost of marketing which I’m told is between $15M-$17M. Sources tell me Lionsgate, not matter how badly Megalopolis does will walk away with a distribution fee between $3M-$5M. Coppola said back at the Cannes press conference that Megalopolis will leave him with “no problems” financially and that his offspring, including his filmmaker children Sophia and Roman and their children, “have wonderful careers without a fortune.”
We’ve heard that Imax is the aorta of this movie with most presales for large format showtimes.
Who showed up last night for the Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Jon Voight, Nathalie Emmanuel dystopian epic? Most men at 69% and a young audience with 64% under 25. Best grades, if you can call it that, were given by women over 25 (23% of the crowd) who gave it 50%. Rotten Tomatoes critical scores stand at 50% Rotten.
Warner Bros’ third week of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice did $33.2M after a $1.46M Thursday for a running cume of $234M. The Tim Burton directed movie is pacing just under $40M behind Warner Bros.’ top grossing movie of September, It, at the same point in time which ended its run at $327.4M.
Paramount’s first week of Transformers One did $29.8M after an $838K Thursday. The movie is expected to ease around -50% in its second weekend.
Blumhouse/Universal’s Speak No Evil ends weekend 2 with an estimated $8.3M after $520K yesterday for a running total of $23.8M.
Lionsgate’s Alexandrea Aja directed, Halle Berry genre movie, Never Let Go, ends week one with $6M after a $300K Thursday.
Disney/Marvel Studio’s Deadpool & Wolverine wraps up week 9 with $5.2M after a $317K Thursday. Running total stands at $628.6M.
Mubi’s Demi Moore body swap movie The Substance end its first week with $5.05M after a $370K Thursday.
We’ll see how hard Hurricane Helene rocks the box office as the day goes. Per Weather.com there’s more than 4M homes and businesses without power: South Carolina (1.3M), Florida (1.1M), Georgia (1.07M), North Carolina (614K) and Virginia (43K).
