We’re a quarter of the way through 2023… and inching our way towards already being a third of the way through the year. As we head into Easter weekend with “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” doing incredible business (probably close to $150 million by Monday night) and “AIR” bringing-in adults (to the tune of close to $20M by Monday evening), let’s see which other films have been hits… and which have been misses… so far in ’23:
MAJOR HIT: Amazon and MGM’s threequel in the “Rocky” spinoff series, “Creed III”, has earned more than $150 million domestically, outperforming the first two installments big time.
MODERATE HIT: “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is 2023’s biggest film to date ($212M), but Disney and Marvel’s third chapter in the Paul Rudd franchise is going to fall short of the gross of 2018’s second installment by a few million.
DEFINITE SUCCESS: Lionsgate is thrilled with how “John Wick: Chapter 4” is doing… but they’ll be even more pleased once it gets past “Chapter 3”’s $171M domestic cume. I *think* that will happen; $44 million to go.
BETTER THAN THE LAST ONE: Paramount released “Scream VI” just 14 months after the fifth one earned $82M. We’re now at $100M for this one. When’s “Scream VII”?
SEQUEL ON THE WAY: 2023’s first hit, “MEGAN”, is getting a sequel in less than two years. Universal’s very happy with the $95M total for this one.
COMEBACK ACHIEVED: Director Elizabeth Banks with “Cocaine Bear” — Four years after the “Charlie’s Angels” flop, Banks redeems herself with UNI’s comedy horror film that’s up to $64M.
FOUND ITS AUDIENCES: Faith-based “Jesus Revolution” has made a very respectable $52M for Lionsgate. The studio’s “Plane” brought-in Gerard Butler fans to the tune of $32M. Sony thriller “Missing” made $33M. And Paramount’s sports comedy “80 For Brady” earned $39M thanks to major star power. “Dungeons & Dragons” is off to a good start with game fans, making $45M+ so far.
COUNTERPROGRAMMING: Sony’s PG-13 “65” opened opposite R-rated “Scream VI” and has earned $31 million to date, possibly much more than if it opened opposite fellow PG-13 movies like “Shazam!” or “Creed III”.
THE CARRYOVER: Sony’s “A Man Called Otto”, starring Tom Hanks, technically opened in 2022, with NY/LA runs beginning December 30th. Its nationwide start was January 6th, and it stayed in some multiplexes for nearly three full months, totaling $64 million.
THE DISAPPOINTMENTS: WB’s “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” is only at $55 million and won’t come close to the first film’s $140M total. The studio also didn’t find great success with franchise finale “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” ($26M) and “House Party” ($9M). But I suspect “Evil Dead Rise” and this summer’s “The Flash”, “Barbie” and “Blue Beetle” will perform *much* better.
Universal’s “Knock at the Cabin” barely passed the $35 million mark, $13M less than M. Night Shyamalan’s previous film, 2021’s “Old”. It also only stayed in theaters for six weeks before being completely pulled, rare for a major movie. And both “Marlowe” (Open Road) and “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre” (Lionsgate) failed to find audiences, grossing just $11 million combined.
(Source: Box Office Mojo)