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Over the past three weekends, Disney’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” has dominated the domestic box office with relative ease. The Marvel Superhero Adventure, which was the studio’s first comic book adventure to feature an Asian star, has been an exciting coda for a mercurial summer, at least, when it comes to movie theater attendance. movie theater.
Indeed, “Shang-Chi” has done its part to get audiences to get up off the couch and go see the latest blockbuster in their local theater. Since its Labor Day weekend debut, the film has grossed $ 176 million – the second-best result in the pandemic – and looks to become the first domestic release to cross $ 200 million in ticket sales since the start. of COVID-19.
Why has “Shang-Chi” enjoyed a virtually free reign on the box office charts? That’s because there hasn’t been a new movie that has really had the chance to take over. Over the following weeks, newcomers like James Wan’s thriller “Malignant”, Gerard Butler-directed action thriller “Copshop”, and Clint Eastwood’s Western drama “Cry Macho” hardly threatened the cinematic adventures of the movie. future Avenger of the star Simu Liu. .
This may have cheers from Disney executives, who have chosen to keep the film exclusively in theaters rather than simultaneously putting it on Disney Plus. But “Shang-Chi” alone cannot turn the tide for movie theaters. In a business that thrives on its momentum, Hollywood film studios and operators rely on a range of offerings to keep the industry afloat. Ideally, a customer goes to a movie at the theater and watches a trailer that gets that person excited about coming back to the big screen. It’s harder to maintain when there are weeks going by between trendy movies. The lull is not entirely unprecedented; even in the pre-pandemic period, August and September have traditionally been slower months at the box office. In the era of COVID, the delta variant has been an additional and significant obstacle to reviving the theater industry.
“Prior to July 4, the pandemic was on the verge of being contained, but Delta and the premature openings changed that. Given the stubbornness of the variant and the resistance of large numbers of people to be vaccinated, containment is going to take time – again, ”says David A. Gross, who heads cinema consulting firm Franchise. Entertainment Research. “Business should continue to improve despite the unfavorable conditions, but the pandemic must be contained.”
The next film test will be the sequel to Sony’s comic book “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” (October 1) and MGM’s James Bond episode “No Time to Die” (October 8). Will back-to-back tent poles be a powerful enough combination to bring people back to the movies and maintain box office stamina until the end of the year? Industry watchers seem confident that the early October release dates will set the stage for a busy fall season.
“‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ and ‘No Time to Die’ are perfectly positioned to appeal to the 18-30 year olds who drove the return of cinema at the end of the summer,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
In the months following the industry’s attempt to return, films were aimed at a younger, predominantly male audience, such as the “Fast and Furious” sequel to Universal “F9”, the mast of Warner Bros. . “Godzilla vs. Kong” and the Ryan Reynolds The sci-fi comedy “Free Guy” has sold more tickets than films that cater to older crowds. It’s especially promising for “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” the sequel which sees Tom Hardy return as the Journalist has become an alien symbiote. Additionally, Marvel’s “Black Widow”, starring Scarlett Johansson, is the highest grossing film of the year (so far) with $ 182 million, the latest attack on the idea that superhero fatigue Marvel exists.
Although “No Time to Die” is aimed at an equally large audience, the core demographic of Bond films is older. This could be problematic as the adult audience has been the most reluctant to return to the cinema. Recent releases, including Michael Showalter’s biopic “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” Paul Schrader’s drama “The Card Counter” and Hugh Jackman’s sci-fi thriller “Reminiscence,” have struggled to connect in theaters, and all were thrown at adult crowds. In the case of “No Time to Die”, marketers have the added challenge of giving the Bond adventure a new twist. The aptly titled spy thriller was originally slated to open in 2020 and was the first major blockbuster hoping to delay its release in the wake of the coronavirus. At this point, it’s been almost a year since Billie Eilish won a Grammy for performing the film’s title song. Even so, “No Time to Die” marks Daniel Craig’s fifth and final outing as a suave British spy, which means the anticipation among 007 enthusiasts has been very high.
Another potential hurdle: “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” and “No Time to Die” both originate from franchises that rely heavily on the international box office for profit. Abroad, the film landscape has been volatile. Many international countries still have capacity restrictions in place and in some regions, such as France, Italy and Germany, customers must show proof of vaccination to enter theaters. Meanwhile, large territories like Korea, Japan, Australia and most countries in Southeast Asia have reinstated more stringent lockdowns, forcing some movie theaters to close again and others to operate with reduced hours.
Outside of the US, markets like China, Japan, and the UK are particularly critical for big budget tents. The first “Venom” grossed $ 650 million overseas in 2018 and Bond’s last film, “Specter” of 2015, grossed $ 680 million internationally. So far, most movies haven’t nearly hit those box office levels during the COVID era. A single Hollywood movie, “F9,” topped $ 500 million in international box office ticket sales – and that was late June before new strains of COVID-19 became a serious threat. On a positive note, “No Time to Die” got a release date in China (and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” should, too) at a time when most Hollywood films weren’t allowed to be released. play in the biggest movie market in the world. “Venom” in 2018 made more money in China ($ 269 million) than any other market, including North America ($ 203 million). China is also a significant overseas market for the Bond franchise and was the most profitable international territory outside of the UK for “Specter”.
While the fall and winter season is lighter than usual, there are several major titles on the schedule that seek to fill seats in multiplexes and could help end 2021 on a high note: Disney’s “Eternals” and Marvel (November 5), Sony’s “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” (November 19), Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” remake (December 10), Sony’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (December 17), Warner Bros. ‘ Universal’s “The Matrix: Resurrections” (December 22) and “Sing 2” (December 22).
If they want to spark and sustain a box office revival, they can’t draw the crowds into the void. One blow must lead to another. In the film industry, the most powerful force is momentum.
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