Drive-In movie theaters are still going strong – and not just for summertime. Films like “Joker” and “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” should benefit from outdoor audiences (as long as the weather is good). Studios tend to make package deals for drive-in owners: show our new movie as the first feature IF you play an older one as the second feature.
And those second features end-up getting a big boost at the weekend box office. Disney has done this for a long time, with “Tangled”, “John Carter”, “Oz: The Great and Powerful”, “Cinderella” and “Alice Through the Looking Glass” getting second-run box office attention at the Drive-Ins, playing after new, first-run films. In 2017, “Get Out” was paired with “The Fate of the Furious” nearly two months after the Jordan Peele movie first opened. Last summer, “Life of the Party” showed on many drive-in screens with “The Meg” in August (three months after the Melissa McCarthy comedy first hit indoor theaters).
And this weekend, Universal is sticking “The Secret Life of Pets 2” with “Abominable”, even though “Pets 2” is already on DVD! Here are some other recent examples:
2019
“Annabelle Comes Home”
Studio: Warner Bros.
11th Weekend
Paired with: “It: Chapter Two”
Per Screen Average: $3,773
“Yesterday”
Studio: Universal
6th Weekend
Paired with: “Hobbs & Shaw”
Per Screen Average: $1,344
“A Dog’s Journey”
Studio: Universal
4th Weekend
Paired with “The Secret Life of Pets 2”
Per Screen Average: $2,102
“Penguins”
Studio: Disney
7th Weekend
Paired with: “Aladdin”
Per Screen Average: $2,250
“Dumbo”
Studio: Disney
9th Weekend
Paired with: “Aladdin”
Per Screen Average: $3,129
“Captain Marvel”
Studio: Disney
8th Weekend
Paired with: “Avengers: Endgame”
Per Screen Average: $3,414
2018
“Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again”
Studio: Universal
10th Weekend
Paired with: “The House with a Clock in Its Walls”
Per Screen Average: $1,146
“Super Troopers 2”
Studio: Fox
5th Weekend
Paired with: “Deadpool 2”
Per Screen Average: $2,707
“Black Panther”
Studio: Disney
11th Weekend
Paired with: “Avengers: Infinity War”
Per Screen Average: $2,871