Hello everyone,
It’s been awhile since a Warner Bros movie wasn’t #1 at the weekend box office, and Warner Bros seems very upset that “Gran Turismo” was #1 this past weekend. First, they said that “Barbie” was almost tied for #1 $17.4 million vs $17.1 million. Turns out the actual numbers had “Barbie” behind by about $2 million. Then they said that the “preview weekends” that “Gran Turismo” had the previous two weekends shouldn’t count in the weekend total although the Thursday night showings (or the night before whatever day the movie officially opens) has been considered part of the opening day box office for awhile and Sony has always said that the preview showings of the movie were like that. Right now, the official reports say that “Gran Turismo” is #1 with $17.4 million, “Barbie” is #2 with $15.1 million, #3 is last weekends #1 “Blue Beetle” with $12.8 million.
“Barbie” was the most popular movie for “National Cinema Day 2023” on Sunday when most movie tickets were $4 for any show at any time at most theaters (which was higher than last years $3). Overall, the movie theaters drew 8.5 million people which is approx. 5% higher than last year and 700% more people going to see movies than the Saturday before.
Worldwide, “Barbie” became THE MOST SUCCESSFUL WARNER BROS MOVIE EVER. It slipped past “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”, however that is due to its domestic box office (it became Warner Bros #1 domestic movie last week). For the International box office it’s not even #2. The International totals have “Barbie” currently at $747 million. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” is #1 internationally with $960 million (it only made $381 million domestically), “Aquaman” is #2 internationally at $813 million internationally (it only made $335 million domestically). “Barbie” just went past the international box office for “Joker” which is $738 million.
“Barbie” is still approx. $20 million behind the #1 movie for 2023 worldwide but it should pass it over Labor Day weekend next weekend. The international numbers have “Barbie” about $40 million behind the #1 movie for 2023 so there is a chance it will pass that number but it will take awhile.
After last week’s back and forth between the WGA and the AMPTP, no new negotiations are scheduled for this week so far. Also, people seem to be forgetting about the actors that are also on strike. SAG said they are “ready to continue negotiations…” whenever the AMPTP is ready.
So far, the box office for the year is doing very well. The 2023 domestic box office is past $6.6 billion which is 25% more than last year. Mostly thanks to “Super Mario Bros Movie” in the spring and “Barbenheimer” in the summer. However, the 4th quarter is now looking pretty thin due to Sony rescheduling almost all their 4th quarter releases and Warner Bros postponing “Dune Part 2”. Two years ago, the December release of “Spider-Man No Way Home” – still the #1 domestic movie since the pandemic started – helped boost the box office and last year there was the incredible box office of “Top Gun Maverick” and “Avatar The Way of Water”. All 3 of those movies have made more money than “The Super Mario Bros Movie” or “Barbie” at the domestic and worldwide box office. The worldwide box office for “Avatar The Way of the Water” is at $2.32 BILLION which IS ABOUT 85% of THE COMBINED CURRENT BOX OFFICE of “The Super Mario Bros” $1.36 billion AND “Barbie” $1.34 billion. The 4th quarter of this year doesn’t seem to have a huge box office movie scheduled (yet) and it’ll be even worse if other studios decide to postpone more movies.
OCT 2023 releases
“Dumb Money” (Sony)
“Killers of the Flower Moon” (released theatrically by Paramount)
Nov 2023 releases
“The Marvels” (Disney/Marvel)
“Trolls Band Together” (Universal)
“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” (Lionsgate)
“Napoleon” (released theatrically by Sony Picture Classics)
“The Holdovers” (Focus Features/Universal)
“Wish” (Disney)
Dec 2023 releases
“Wonka” (Warner Bros)
“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” (Warner Bros/DC)
“Migration” (Universal)
“The Color Purple” (Warner Bros)
Little bit of humor…..
It’s sort of true. Maybe they should stop showing the real people at the end of biopic movies. Unless it’s someone like Elvis where everyone knows what he looked like.
LOS ANGELES FILM REVIEW 