‘Tis the season for empty cinemas. Have you noticed a lack of big titles so far this year? No coincidence last year’s strikes are having an effect, and this dire state won’t be saved until “Dune: Part Two” shows up on March 1.
Variety is reporting that “Argylle” is going to top the box-office this weekend, but it’s only set to make $6-8 million. Again, the trade emphasizes that the film “cost $200 million to produce,” but director Matthew Vaughn has denied this figure. Regardless, the film has only grossed $18 million so far domestically.
Meanwhile, the only new release on Friday is “Lisa Frankenstein,” and it’s projected to have an overall haul of $4-6 million, good enough for second place. The re-release of Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” will come close to those numbers as it’s set to make around $3 million over the weekend.
Ticket sales are down 15% over this same time last year. This same weekend in 2023 ended up as the lowest-grossing of the year with $53 million across all films. I don’t believe we’ll be getting close to that figure by Sunday. Next week sees the release of “Bob Marley: One Love” and “Madame Web,” both titles are being press screened on Monday evening, and at the same hour — which screening should I go to?