[ad_1]
“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” dominated the domestic box office and exceeded expectations.
The latest installment of Sony’s supernatural comedy series has grossed $45.2 million in its debut in 4,345 North American theaters. Earlier in the weekend, it looked like “Frozen Empire” would peak at $42 million, but estimates were revised higher after a bigger-than-expected Sunday. At the international box office, the film earned a tepid $16.4 million in 25 markets for a global start of $61 million.
Still, those domestic ticket sales are just ahead of its 2021 predecessor, “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” which grossed $44 million to start while the box office was in full pandemic recovery mode. It’s a sign that the 30-year-old franchise hasn’t expanded its constituency beyond original (and aging) fans of the ghost-busting business.
Furthermore, “Frozen Empire” has a larger budget than the previous one: its production cost 100 million dollars and its marketing cost many millions more. It will have to far surpass “Afterlife” ($204 million worldwide against a $75 million budget) to justify its price, since theater operators take about 50% of the revenue. Sony hopes the film will benefit from spring break, but “Frozen Empire” will face stiff competition next weekend from “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.”
Critics and audiences were mixed with the sequel, which earned a 43% on Rotten Tomatoes and a “B+” CinemaScore. “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” follows the events of “Afterlife,” a sequel to the classic 1980s sci-fi comedy. (The ill-fated 2016 reboot does not exist in this universe.) Franchise veterans Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman (whose father Ivan Reitman directed 1984’s “Ghostbusters”) wrote “Frozen Empire,” which sees new recruits in the legendary ghost hunter. Entrepreneurs (Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon and Finn Wolfhard) team up with veterans (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts) to stop an apocalyptic deity from triggering a second Ice Age.
This weekend’s other release, Sydney Sweeney’s religious horror film “Immaculate,” opened in fourth place with $5.3 million in 2,354 theaters. Neon backed the film, which follows Sweeney as an American nun who joins a remote convent in the Italian countryside. But her warm welcome is cut short when she discovers that her new home hides some dark secrets. Reviews have been so-so, while moviegoers gave the film a “C+” CinemaScore (which is not unusual for the horror genre).
“The movie features the popular Sydney Sweeney, but horror movies don’t depend on the cast,” says David A. Gross, who runs the film consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, who called the opening weekend result “fair.” “They are moved by the bait: the evil doll, the evil smile, the invisible or silent presence, the found images, the possessed child. That’s what terrifies the horror crowd. The hook is not entirely clear here.”
On the other hand, “Dune: Part Two” remained impressively in the No. 2 spot with $17.6 million in 3,437 theaters, dropping only 37% since its last release. After three weeks of release, the sci-fi epic has grossed $233 million in North America and $574 million worldwide.
After two weeks at No. 1, Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “Kung Fu Panda 4” fell to third place. Ticket sales for the family film remained strong with $16.8 million, a 44% decline from the previous weekend. So far, it has racked up $133 million at the domestic box office and $268 million worldwide.
Mark Wahlberg’s dog drama “Arthur the King” rounded out the top five with $4.4 million from 3,003 theaters. It has generated $14.6 million to date, which isn’t all that impressive. However, Lionsgate only spent $19 million on the film, so its modest price could soften its box office shortcomings.
On the independent scene, “Late Night With the Devil” took sixth place and grossed $2.8 million from 1,034 theaters, including (and this can’t be made up) $666,666 on Sunday. This marks the biggest opening weekend for its distributor IFC Films, surpassing 2022’s “Watcher” with $826,775. The low-budget thriller stars David Dastmalchian as a late-night talk show host who keeps cameras rolling during a live satanic incident.
“This weekend’s release of ‘Late Night With the Devil’ set fire to our old opening record,” says Scott Shooman, head of AMC Networks Films, which encompasses IFC. “(It) continues to prove that there is still potential for intelligent, well-reviewed arthouse films in theaters across all genres.”