‘Uncharted’ Boosts ‘Spider-Man’ As ‘Death’ And ‘Marry Me’ Both Drop 64%

Disney and 20th Century Studios’ Death on the Nile earned another $1.768 million on Friday, dropping a brutal 65% from its weak $5.07 million opening day. Kenneth Branagh’s $90 million murder mystery is going to earn around $6.5 million (-50%) over the Fri-Sun part of the weekend and $7.6 million over the holiday, giving it just $20 million in ten days. This is a scary box office miss. Murder on the Orient Express earned $102 million domestic and $355 million worldwide in November 2017. Even presuming a “folks were just curious the first time” downturn, this would have been an easy $250-$300 million win in non-Covid/non-streaming circumstances. It checks all the boxes (ensemble cast, marquee director, easy pitch, good reviews, escapism) for a workable adult-skewing programmer in pre-Covid times. 

Meanwhile, Sony’s Spider-Man: No Way Home took no gruff from having another Sony-distributed, Tom Holland-starring actioner in the marketplace. I’m guessing drive-in double bills helped a little, and it earned another $1.715 million (-11%) on its tenth Friday. That points toward a $7.6 million (+1%) Fri-Sun frame, a $9.4 million Fri-Mon frame and a new $772 million domestic cume. It’s racing toward Fantasia ($778 million adjusted, counting reissues) for 24th place on the all-timer-inflation-adjusted domestic earners list, and it’s close to the top 15 when you remove reissues. Meanwhile, Universal and Illumination’s Sing 2 will earn $3.05 million (-1%) over its ninth Fri-Sun frame as it ends Monday night with $148.6 million domestic. You know what might have made a lot of money in this marketplace? Pixar’s Turning Red…  

Jackass Forever earned $1.4 million (-49%) on Friday for a likely $6.15 million Fri-Mon weekend and $47.7 million 18-day cume. Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson’s Marry Me earned just $1.08 million (-64%) on its second Friday. That implies a $3.64 million (-54%) Fri-Sun/$4.22 million Fri-Mon weekend and a $17.4 million 11-day cume. Peacock success aside, this won’t cause a rush of new star-driven romantic comedies. Paramount and Spyglass’ Scream earned another $880,000 (-44%) on Friday, implying a $2.4 million Fri-Mon weekend and a $77.5 million domestic cume. It should be past Halloween Kills‘ $131 million worldwide cume by tomorrow. Liam Neeson’s Blacklight will earn just $1.73 million over the long weekend for a $7 million 11-day cume. Roland Emmerich’s Moonfall will earn $1.2 million over the long weekend for a lousy $17.9 million 18-day domestic cume. 

MGM’s Licorice Pizza isn’t a “rate of return” hit, since it cost $40 million, but the Paul Thomas Anderson-directed dramedy has become a real awards contender and has only elevated MGM’s profile as a distributor of culturally impactful (and periodically successful) theatrical flicks. Regardless, with $15.34 million by Monday, it’s almost doubled the $8.35 million gross of Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast. Granted, Belfast is a black-and-white, star-free, period piece coming of age story. But to the extent to which it was instantly proclaimed the crowdpleasing, Oscar contender to beat, it’s worth noting that it’s been lapped by the likes of The French Dispatch, King Richard and even The Last Duel. Drive My Car will reach $1.55 million by Monday, which is decent for a three-hour, star-free, Japanese dramedy under any circumstances.  

Walt Disney released Encanto back into 1,310 theaters on Friday, where it earned $77,000 (+229%) for a likely $563,000 long-weekend gross and $95 million domestic cume. If Disney had wanted this one to be a theatrical hit, they shouldn’t have (all due respect to the theatrical marketing folks who did their best under the circumstances) treated it like a Disney+ loss leader. Sure, the streaming figures are huge and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is a smash-hit single, but they could have pulled off both of those milestones with a more conventional theatrical performance. What’s better than huge streaming viewership? Huge streaming viewership preceded by $450-$650 million in global theatrical grosses. Ditto, relatively speaking, for The Last Duel, Nightmare Alley, West Side Story and The King’s Man. Grumble, grumble, grumble.