Studios still being cautious7 Jun 2022 01:29
Top Gun 2 is leading all titles during the 22nd weekend of the year to an overall estimated haul of $119.6M, which is -31% from the same pre-pandemic weekend in 2019. How do we continue to be off in a marketplace where there’s a big movie leading the charge? Same old answers: It boils down to the lack of product, and how studios are continuing to be cautious. During the May 31-June 2, post-Memorial Day weekend, there were three new studio titles appealing to a variety of demos: Godzilla: King of the Monsters (which was No. 1 with $47.8M), Rocketman with $25.7M, and horror movie Ma with $18M.
Then there was weekend 2 of Aladdin in the No. 2 spot, with $42.8M. For the rest of the summer, studios seem to be bobbing and weaving around major blockbusters on the calendar, i.e., no one is going wide against Jurassic World Dominion on June 10, Lightyear on June 17, Minions: The Rise of Gru on July 1, or Thor: Love and Thunder on July 8.
That type of booking by the majors signifies their current belief that it’s a one picture per weekend marketplace. They’re even practicing that distribution method into August with smaller movies, and that’s a time when more can feasibly be booked on the calendar.
What’s optimistic is that just because summer ends, that doesn’t mean people stop going to the movies, as evident in last October. But we need product. People are coming; they just need a reason. Hopefully the turnaround in older demos here by Top Gun: Maverick will provide others with confidence to put more on the schedule, because there’s plenty of opportunity out there.
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