EXPEND4BLES opening | IT LIVES INSIDE opening | Action movies in 2023 | September 22 to 24, 2023 weekend
Opening weekend box office, charts and commentary
The current weekend: September 22 to 24, 2023
1) Expend4bles opening
- This is a weak domestic opening for an episode 4 action title. The last two Expendables have dropped sharply from the previous episodes, and the weekend figure is below average for the genre. Critics reviews are poor and audience ratings are dull (a B- CinemaScore).
While domestic business is weak, this is another action series that does well abroad. 81.7% of Expendables 3's BO was earned overseas, and #4 should do approx. the same. The genre — good guys chasing bad guys — works in all countries, across all cultures, and Sly Stallone and Jason Statham are worldwide superstars:
- The movie was not cheap to make at an est. cost of $100m. While ancillary income should be strong, it appears the film will have a hard time getting to profitability after marketing and distribution costs.
2) It Lives Inside opening
- This is a small opening for a low-budget indie horror pic. The weekend number is below average, with lukewarm reviews and weak audience scores. Still, the production cost was low (an est. $5m), and ancillary business is going to benefit from the wide theatrical release.
With its Indian cultural theme, the film will make up some ground internationally. In the US, there’s a small but vibrant theater circuit for Indian productions, but that audience does not appear to be picking it up:
3) Action movies in 2023
- While the number of action titles in 2023 is down from pre-pandemic levels, total business has been very good, driven by the well-established series. It’s been an efficient year.
The industry was looking for more from Fast & Furious and Mission: Impossible. Those sequels fell from their series' top performances, but they still managed solid business.
John Wick 4 was excellent. It finished with $427m worldwide, up +30% over #3. That series has taken big steps with each episode, from a modest $86m worldwide in 2014, to $172m in 2017, to $328m in 2019, to $427m this year — that’s outstanding. John Wick is a hot series, thanks to Keanu Reeves:
- Next weekend we'll have September BO figures for the four-week period. The numbers are not good. The strikes cannot end soon enough, and then it will be time to get back to rebuilding moviegoing — again.