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The Spider-Man spinoff ôKraven the Hunterö got off to a disastrous start
in North American theaters this weekend.
The movie starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson earned only $11 million, according
to studio estimates Sunday, making it one of the worst openings for a Marvel-adjacent property. Its box office take was even less than the film ôMadame Web.ö
The weekendÆs other major studio release was Warner Bros.Æ animated ôThe
Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim,ö which made $4.6 million. Made
for about $30 million, the movie is set 183 years before the events of
ôThe Lord of the Ringsö films and was fast-tracked to ensure New Line did
not lose the rights to TolkienÆs novels. Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and
Philippa Boyens have been working on future live-action films for the franchise.
Meanwhile, the top of the charts again belonged to ôMoana 2" and ôWicked.ö
ôMoanaö added $26.6 million to its domestic total in its third weekend and $57.2 million internationally, bringing its global tally to $717 million.
ItÆs now the fourth highest grossing film of the year, surpassing ôDune:
Part Two.ö
ôWicked,ö which is in its fourth weekend, brought in another $22.5 million
to take second place. The Universal musical has made over $359 million domestically and over $500 million worldwide.
ôGladiator IIö also made $7.8 million, bringing its domestic total to
$145.9 million in four weeks.
ôKraven the Hunterö is the latest misfire from Sony in its attempt to mine
the Spider-Man universe for spin-off franchises without the lucrative web slinger himself. ôKravenö joins ôMadame Webö and ôMorbiusö in franchise additions that fell flat with both audiences and critics. The one
exception on this rollercoaster journey has been the ôVenomö trilogy,
which has made over $1.8 billion worldwide.
The R-rated ôKraven the Hunterö was directed by J.C. Chandor and faced a
number of delays, partly due to the Hollywood strikes. It was shot nearly
three years ago and originally slated to hit theaters in January 2023. The
film cost a reported $110 million to produce and was co-financed by TSG. Internationally, it made $15 million, but its potential for longevity
appears limited: It currently carries a 15% ôfreshö rating on Rotten
Tomatoes and got a C grade on CinemaScore from opening weekend audiences.
ôItÆs not always a guarantee that youÆll be able to connect with audiences
when you have a spinoff character,ö said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior
media analyst for Comscore. ôGeneral audiences seem to want to know
exactly what theyÆre getting.ö
Several awards contenders opened in limited release over the weekend,
including ParamountÆs ôSeptember 5ö about ABCÆs coverage of the Munich
Olympics hostage crisis. Amazon MGM and OrionÆs ôNickel Boys,ö based on
Colson WhiteheadÆs Pulitzer-winner about an abusive reform school in
Florida, opened in two theaters in New York. It averaged $30,422 per
screen and will be expanding to Los Angeles before going nationwide in the coming weeks.
Some big hitters are on the way in the home stretch of the 2024 box
office. ôMufasaö and ôSonic the Hedgehog 3ö will hit in the coming weeks
along with a bevy of arthouse and adult releases like ôBabygirl,ö
ôNosferatuö and ôA Complete Unknown.ö
The box office has seen a dramatic recovery since June, when it was down
nearly 28% from the previous year. The deficit now stands at 4.8%.
Final domestic figures will be released Monday. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to
Comscore:
1. ôMoana 2,ö $26.6 million.
2. ôWicked,ö $22.5 million.
3. ôKraven the Hunter,ö $11 million.
4. ôGladiator II,ö $7.8 million.
5. ôRed One,ö $4.6 million.
6. ôLord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim,ö $4.5 million.
7. ôInterstellarö (rerelease), $3.3 million.
8. ôPushpa: The Rule ù Part 2,ö $1.6 million.
9. ôThe Best Christmas Pageant Ever,ö $1.4 million.
10. ôQueer,ö $790,954.
https://apnews.com/article/box-office-b79d8c3a84483f15fc3dace19dbef5d5
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