‘Bodies Bodies Bodies’ Tops Newbies In Inexcusably Empty Weekend

While the overall domestic box office this year remains 31% below 2019 (which, to be fair was a fluke year due to the deluge of A+++ Disney titles like Toy Story 4, Avengers 4, Aladdin and The Lion King), the overall number of new wide theatrical releases is also down around 31%. Blame a variety of reasons, including Covid-caused post-production delays, films like The Man from Toronto and Shotgun Wedding being offloaded to streaming platforms, Disney and 20th Century Studios mainly being off the board (ditto Amazon-owned MGM), lingering streaming > theatrical sentiment and general studio skittishness. We’ve seen an inexplicable lack of theatrical offerings beyond a handful of mega-movie tentpoles and smaller-scale, almost indie-level titles.

As such, we have entered another box office slump, one caused not by audiences not showing up but by a lack of movies for them to see. Bullet Train is the last big movie until, at best, The Woman King and Don’t Worry Darling in late September. Thor: Love and Thunder is the last big kid-friendly live-action flick until either the rerelease of Avatar on September 23 or Black Adam on October 21. Since Hollywood has decided to plunge the theatrical industry into another self-imposed slump, there isn’t much to say about the handful of new wide or semi-wide releases opening this weekend.

Will Idris Elba’s ‘protect my family from a wild lion’ actioner Beast break out next weekend? Will 20th Century Studios’ Barbarian open in early September with even 20% of what Salem’s Lost would have opened to had the latter New Line Stephen King adaptation not been delayed to next April? Will even 1% of the folks not-incorrectly arguing online that John Boyega was done dirty by the Star Wars sequels show up for Breaking in late August? If not, it’ll be a long six weeks until Avatar returns to theaters on September 23.

As noted yesterday, quite a few movies are opening between now and mid-September when (hopefully) Sony’s The Woman King on September 16 and Warner Bros.’ Don’t Worry Darling on September 23 jolts the industry back to life. However, folks only go to the movies when there is something they want to see in theaters. That number is ever-dwindling, with fewer event movies making up a larger piece of the overall box office pie. The likes of Fall and Emily The Criminal (excellent, by the way) aren’t what people showed up for in 2016, let alone 2022. So, in the first of several weeks of quiet box office and smaller-scale new releases, quality notwithstanding, what did we get this round?

A24’s buzzy and well-reviewed Bodies Bodies Bodies went semi-wide this weekend, earning $3.2.5 million in 1,275 theaters. That gives Halina Reijn’s Generation Z-targeted teen whodunnit a $2,530 per-theater average. I can’t imagine this one cost very much; it’s primarily set in a poorly lit house with a handful of teen protagonists (Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Myha’la Herrold, Chase Sui Wonders and MVP Rachel Sennott) trying to uncover a killer in their midst. It’s another case of a film that’s far more blogged about than seen. It’ll have $3.576 million in the first ten days, and I imagine the flick will gain a broader audience on PVOD and streaming. It didn’t knock my socks off, but I like the cast, the third act works, and I adored its clever epilogue.

Lionsgate’s Fall, which made most of its news for using deep fake technology to remove dozens of f-bombs to turn an R-rating into a PG-13, opened with $2.505 million in 1,548 theaters. Scott Mann’s high concept, no pun intended, flick about two climbers (Grace Caroline Currey and Virginia Gardner) who find themselves stranded atop a 2,000-foot radio tower has earned decent reviews. I haven’t seen it yet because my wife is a disaster flick junkie, and I’m waiting so she can tag along. Lionsgate is only on the hook for domestic distribution, and I’m assuming they went into this with both eyes open.

The new release with the biggest per-theater average was, ironically, the IMAX reissue of Steven Spielberg’s E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. The prototypical Spielberg classic, which topped Star Wars in the summer of 1982 to become the biggest grossing movie of all time while spending a still-record 27 non-consecutive weekends in the top ten, earned $1.15 million over the weekend in 516 theaters for a $438.37 million 40-year domestic cume. Jaws will be getting a 3-D reissue (not to be confused with Jaws 3-D) on September 2 because theaters are just that starved for big-deal content. In terms of four-quadrant, kid-friendly newbies, Black Adam is over two months away.

Mack & Rita, Katie Aselton’s first directorial effort since the underappreciated ‘yes all women’ survival actioner Black Rock in 2013, opened courtesy of Gravitas. Madeline Walter and Paul Welsh penned the high-concept comedy. It stars Elizabeth Lail, who wakes up from a bachelorette party as her 70-year-old self (Diane Keaton). Unfortunately, the film earned mixed-negative reviews and a D+ from Cinemascore, which is odd since I can’t imagine that many people (69% women over 30) showed up unaware of what it was about/what it would offer. Its $1.095 million weekend gross in 2,000 theaters does not deserve more commentary. However, considering the cast (Wendie Malick, Loretta Devine, Martin Short, Nicole Byer, etc.), I might check it out purely for curiosity.

The best newbie of the weekend, and one of the year’s best films, was Roadside Attractions’ Emily The Criminal. The flash-outta-the-pan directorial debut from John Patton Ford stars Aubrey Plaza, who’s as subtly terrific here as she was over-the-top spectacular in Black Bear, as a down-on-her-luck victim of the gig economy who finds relative success in the realm of petty crime. It’s an intimate, specific and of-the-moment crime drama that, in a just world, would get as much buzz as did Good Time from the summer of 2017. Anyway, I’m simply happy I was able to see it on opening day at my local multiplex. The flick earned around $650,000 in 473 theaters.