GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE opening | IMMACULATE opening | Where we are now | March 22 to 24, 2024 weekend
Opening weekend box office, charts and commentary
The current weekend: March 22 to 24, 2024
1) Ghostbusters 5: Frozen Empire opening
- This is a unique and impressive opening. Only four other comedic series in the last 27 years have lasted five episodes. The weekend figure is well above average for the genre, and the drop from the previous Ghostbusters opening is insignificant.
Audience ratings are good (a B+ CinemaScore), with soft critics’ reviews. Foreign business is not these films’ strength, but the budget of $100m is right-sized for what these movies earn. These are very good numbers, led by domestic:
- The other comedies to generate five films were the Vacation movies, Jackass, Scary Movie, and Tyler Perry as Madea, with Tyler Perry eventually doing eight Madeas.
Episode 3 is usually the end for a comedy series; for example, Night at the Museum, The Hangover, The Fockers, Big Momma’s, The Santa Clause, Harold & Kumar, the Friday series, and Major League. All of those films had their moments before the joke was over. 40 years after the original, Ghostbusters is alive and well and holding its audience.
2) Immaculate opening
- This is a fair opening for an original horror movie. Reviews are good, but audience scores are what count, and for a horror picture, they’re soft (a C CinemaScore).
The movie features the popular Sydney Sweeney, but horror movies are not cast-driven. They're driven by the hook: the evil doll, the wicked smile, the invisible or silent presence, the found footage, the possessed child. That's what terrifies the horror crowd. The hook is not completely clear here:
3) Where we are now
- Next week we'll have March box office totals. The big sequels are doing well, and next weekend Godzilla x Kong is going to be another hit. But there is no time for rest, and last weekend's lack of a high-profile new release was a set-back.
Last week finished down approx. -49% compared with the 2019/2018/2017 average, after the previous two weeks were down -8% and -3%. The pre-pandemic standard is unforgiving.
- Still, we're past the softest part of the 2024 calendar and business should continue to firm up. April has a couple of interesting original titles that are building very good momentum: Monkey Man (April 5) and Civil War (April 12). Original is always a healthy counterpoint to the sequels. Then summer starts on May 5 with The Fall Guy.