The COVID-19 epidemic has gradually spread around the world, including China, South Korea, Japan, Italy, and the normal operation of theaters in many countries has been affected. In North America, although the epidemic has not yet affected the upper file of the new film, the box office has been more or less affected.
Last weekend, there were still three new films released on a large scale in North America, and the box office performance was not satisfactory, which also made people sweat for films such as "Bloodshot" and "A Quiet Place 2" that will be released this week and next week.
Stills from 1/2 of Magic
At the top of last weekend's box office list was a new film from Disney-owned Pixar Animation Studios, "The Magic of 1/2" (Onward). Written by Dan Scanlon, director of Monsters University, the film tells the story of a pair of brothers who lost their father at an early age and embark on a journey to explore the wizarding world. Last month, "1/2 magic" held a world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, received a fairly good media evaluation, and currently has 86% of professional film critics and 96% of the audience praise on the film and television rating website "Rotten Tomatoes", and the first round of audience polls has A-grade reputation.
"1/2 magic" has 86% of professional film critics and 96% of the audience on the film and television rating website "Rotten Tomatoes"
However, even so, "1/2 Magic" was released in 4310 theaters across the United States for three days and only grossed $40 million. Taking into account inflation, it can be said that this is the worst feature-length animation work in Pixar's history. Originally, starting from the weekend, many primary and secondary schools in the United States began to have a week-long spring break, and it is reasonable to say that there will be many parents who will take their children to the theater to watch movies. Therefore, the opening score of 40 million in "1/2 magic" is even more chilling. Such a painting achievement, if placed a few years ago, is simply unimaginable in the industry. But now the truth is in front of everyone: even if "Pixar production, must be a boutique", box office returns are no longer a nail in the coffin. In addition to the impact of the epidemic, the films that American audiences are really willing to pay for in the cinema are increasingly limited to certain types of works such as Marvel super blockbusters.
Disney did not disclose the cost of making "1/2 magic", but it will certainly not be cheap based on past Pixar works - it is rumored to be $200 million! Next, "Peter Rabbit 2" will be released on April 3, and "Trolls: World Tour" on April 10, these films aimed at small audiences will get a piece of "1/2 magic", so its box office prospects are not very optimistic.
Stills from The Road Back
"The Way Back" from Warner was released for three days and grossed $8.5 million, ranking third in the weekend box office. Starring Ben Affleck, the film tells the story of an alcoholic basketball player, the prodigal son, who turns around and leads the high school basketball team to success. The positive energy plot of life chicken soup is somewhat routine, although Affleck's performance has received good media reviews, but the box office is estimated to be difficult to make a big difference, fortunately, its production cost is only 21 million US dollars.
"Emma" from Focus Pictures is not a new film, it began to be released on a small scale in some theaters as early as February 21, and finally promoted to 1565 theaters last weekend, resulting in a box office of $5 million, ranking sixth in the weekend box office list.
The film is based on Jane Austen's novel of the same name and has been remade several times in the past, including the 1996 version starring Gwyneth Paltlow and "Clueless", which transplanted the story to an American campus. This time, the latest edition is directed by 49-year-old American female director Autumn de Wilde. She is a well-known photographer in the American music industry, who has taken promotional photos and CD covers for many stars, and has also directed MVs, but this is the first time to shoot a movie. Due to the professional strengths of the bank, the photographic and costume level of this version of "Emma" is quite in place, and the performance of the new generation of actor Anya Taylor-Joy in this film has also received a lot of praise.
March 6-March 8 North American weekend box office charts
1. "1/2 Magic" $40 million
2. The Invisible Man $15.15 million
3. "The Road Back" $8.5 million
4. Sonic the Hedgehog $8 million
5. The Call of the Wild $7 million
6. Emma 5 million US dollars
7. Jedi X-Men: SpeedIng Up $3.05 million
8. Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey $2.16 million
9. "Friends Mutual Harmony Movie" 1.84 million US dollars
10. My Hero Academia: Rise of Heroes $1.52 million