‘Death On The Nile’ Nabs Poor $5M Friday As ‘Marry Me’ And ‘Blacklight’ Stumble

In another blow to the notion of formally-Fox films doing well by Disney, Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile topped the Friday box office with an anemic $5.1 million. That includes $1.1 million in Thursday previews. For reference, Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express, released in November of 2017 back when Fox wasn’t yet under the Disney umbrella, opened with $10.7 million, including $1.6 million in Thursday previews. While the preview figures for this second Hercule Poirot adaptation were just 31% below the first one, the full Friday gross was down 52%. Even with better reviews and the same formula that worked 4.25 years ago, Death on the Nile is looking at an opening weekend of $13 million, a 55% drop from the $28.8 million debut of Murder on the Orient Express.  

In a non-Covid time, even a 1/3 drop would be normal (and not perilous) for a sequel to a liked-but-not-beloved franchise starter which earned $102 million domestic and $353 million worldwide. Disney did the work in terms of copious previews, television spots and promotional art. They obviously should have left it where it was in late 2019, but that applies to several Covid casualties (No Time to Die, Wonder Woman 1984 and Top Gun: Maverick, etc.). To blame the “problematic” nature of its ensemble cast presumes that anyone outside the bubble cared about Armie Hammer even before he was accused of being a cannibal (or, more seriously, allegations of sexual assault). No one stayed home because Russell Brand and Letitia Wright are allegedly anti-vax and/or because Gal Gadot dropped a cringeworthy cover of “Imagine” in early 2020.  

Universal’s Marry Me opened with $3 million on Friday. That points toward an $8 million debut weekend for the Jennifer Lopez/Owen Wilson romantic-comedy. That’s not good, although A) the film is concurrently available on Peacock, B) the picture only cost $23 million and C) it’s not like Lopez programmers were breaking records before Covid. Hustlers is the glorious exception to the rule (a $33 million debut and a $157 million global cume on a $20 million budget), but even Second Act earned “just” $39 million domestic from a $6.5 million debut in December 2018. Its $72 million finish was great on a $16 million budget, but Monster-in-Law ($155 million on a $43 million budget) was 17 years ago. Ditto Owen Wilson, whose Father Figures, Masterminds and No Escape didn’t set the box office on fire.  

While those of us in the press talk about the death of the Hollywood romantic comedy, Netflix has been offering up approximations of the genuine article for years. Why go out to a theater to see Marry Me when you can stay home and watch A Castle for Christmas or The Royal Treatment? Likewise, while Death on the Nile is a high-quality, old-school ensemble murder mystery, audiences have the choice of staying in with Netflix’s comedic Murderville or Apple’s genre-hopping The Afterparty. When audiences can get films and shows at home that approximate the genuine Hollywood theatrical article, there’s less incentive to see the one that’s playing at a theater near you. Audiences can stay home for Marry Me, and they can wait a few months to watch Death on the Nile on HBO Max or Hulu. 

Liam Neeson’s Blacklight opened with just $1.225 million on Friday for a likely $2.9 million weekend. The last two Open Road/Briarcliff Neeson actioners (Honest Thief and The Marksman) opened closer to $4 million, so this is a step down even by mid-Covid/pre-vaccine standards. To be fair, there’s more to see in cinemas these days, and to be frank Blacklight may be Neeson’s worst post-Taken action movie. Even Taken 3 had a big budget and actual production values. This sparse thriller has shockingly little in the way of scale, scope and action. Blacklight is arguably worse than what you’d find on streaming or VOD (not even counting the “good stuff” from Scott Adkins, Dolph Lundgren and/or Michael Jai White). Pre-Covid, these films (Run All Night, The Commuter, A Walk Among the Tombstones, etc.) used to be worth seeing in theaters.  

Alas, the circumstances that caused a slew of adult-skewing biggies (West Side Story, King Richard, Last Night in Soho, etc.) to crater further affected what otherwise would have been two solid “big movies for grownups” offerings (Blacklight was a loss regardless). Covid, and the industry’s concurrent rush toward streaming, has furthered the notion of audiences that once went to the movies just to see a movie (instead of or along with the official seasonal tentpoles) shifted to streaming. Studio programmers, star vehicles, high-concept originals or adult-skewing “new to you” adaptations (and everything in between) have struggled since at least early 2016. Moviegoers, who now have HDTVs and sound bars, have spent an increasingly larger part of their annual theatrical moviegoing budget on a smaller selection of “event movies.” The doom I’ve feared since 2016 may well already be here.