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Kingsley Ben-Adir as Bob Marley
Chiabella James / © Paramount Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
Paramount got the best Valentine’s Day gift any studio could hope for when Bob Marley: One lovebiopic about the legendary Jamaican musician, set a new midweek holiday record by reaching $14 million and surpassing the $11.5 million grossed by The vote in 2012.
But Valentine’s Day turned out to be just a warm-up event as the film became a mainstream box-office sensation, another victory for the rise of musical biopics sweeping Hollywood. Iconic musical artists, of which there is no shortage, are providing studios with much-needed intellectual property as tried-and-true genres, namely superhero movies, lose their singing powers. Barely a week goes by without a major new studio project being announced, including this week’s news that Sony and Sam Mendes are embarking on an ambitious magical mystery tour that will see each of the four Beatles get their own movie , which will be released in theaters in 2027.
Heading down the Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day corridor, One Love was looking for a respectable $30 million six-day release. Instead, it raised $51.5 million. And while it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, the Marley biopic ties in with Bohemian Rhapsody to rank as the second biggest release of a musical biopic behind Straight from Compton ($60.2 million).
The secret to One Loveof the blockbuster: it expanded demographically every day until it reached all age groups and, most notably, younger moviegoers who weren’t even born when the musician died in 1981. The Marley family worked closely with Paramount in making the film, with Bob Marley’s son Ziggy producing. And in the months leading up to the film’s release, Paramount’s stealth marketing campaign included strategically inducing crowds gathered at sporting events, or even subway stations, to sing.
“As an artist, Bob Marley has had a huge impact across generations and there is a reason his music is still played today. And when you’re able to unite around the music, the message and the person, there’s always a chance to explode,” says Paramount president of marketing and distribution Marc Weinstock, who also worked on the hit Elton John biopic . rocket man and the documentary of Michael Jackson’s posthumous concert That’s all when I was at Sony.
It would be natural to wait One Love to skew seniority, which occurred, at least initially. On Valentine’s Day, the largest segment of ticket buyers were between 35 and 44 years old (22 percent), according to data shared with The Hollywood Reporter. And by PostTrack’s count, nearly 70 percent of the audience was 25 and older. But over the weekend, more teens and younger adults started showing up, even though there was a new superhero movie in the theater. lady web. Ultimately, those ages 18 to 24, the most frequent moviegoers, made up the largest segment (23 percent) of the first week audience.
“This is music that teenagers, parents and grandparents can listen to together,” Weinstock says.
One Love It attracted an ethnically diverse crowd from the start, but the composition also changed as the days went by. Initially, 43 percent of ticket buyers were Black moviegoers, followed by Latino moviegoers (28 percent), Caucasian moviegoers (19 percent), and Asian/Other moviegoers (7 percent). The final weighted breakdown of six-day releases shows that Caucasian moviegoers accounted for 38 percent of all ticket buyers, followed by Black moviegoers (30 percent), Latino moviegoers (25 percent) and Asian moviegoers /others (7 percent).
One draw of musical biopics for theaters in particular is “the bold, immersive sound that modern movie theaters offer,” says Paul Dergarabedian, chief box office analyst at Comscore.
The race to participate in the musical biopic gold rush dates back to Universal’s biopic NWA. Straight from Compton, which grossed $202.2 million at the worldwide box office in 2015, not adjusted for inflation. Three years later, 20th Century Fox’s Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody surprised to earn $910 million worldwide. Most recent victories include rocket man ($196 million) and Warner Bros.’ Oscar contender Elvis ($288 million). But there have been mistakes, including last year. Whitney Houston: I want to dance with someone ($59 million) and the 2021 Aretha Franklin biopic I respect ($32 million).
The studios continue to bet heavily on being in the winning column. Earlier this month, Paramount paid $25 million for the North American rights to Better man, about the rise of celebrated singer-songwriter Robbie Williams. The film is directed by Michael Gracey, whose credits include The greatest showman. And Paramount and Amblin are teaming up on a Bee Gees biopic that Ridley Scott is in talks to direct. Lionsgate and Universal Pictures International are filming a Michael Jackson biopic directed by Antoine Fuqua, while Focus Features is set to release the Amy Winehouse biopic. Back to black this spring.
When Paramount, the Marley family and director Reinaldo Marcus Green celebrated the world premiere of One Love in Kingston, Jamaica, the crowd erupted in applause when Kingsley Ben-Adir, who plays Bob Marley, spoke for the first time. Although he is not Jamaican, his Patois accent was perfect.
“Authenticity was really the key to telling this story, and Ziggy and the Marley family were instrumental in working alongside the filmmakers and our studio to ensure that we told this story in a way that did justice to Bob’s legacy,” Weinstock says.
Case in point: While other actors may have been more like his father, Ziggy Marley loved Ben-Adir because he embodied the essence of his father.
Weinstock concludes: “When musical biopics authentically speak to audiences, they have the opportunity to become part of the cultural conversation.”