A Quiet Place' Sequel Reboots Summer Moviegoing
01 June 2021 - 4:18AM
Dow Jones News
By R.T. Watson
Compared with last year, how much better was the kickoff to this
year's summer season at the movies? More than a hundred times
better.
Led by the long-delayed and much-anticipated horror sequel "A
Quiet Place Part II," the combined North American box office raked
in at least $97 million, according to media measurement firm
Comscore. "A Quiet Place Part II" captured the bulk of that,
grossing $57 million in the U.S. and Canada during the Memorial Day
holiday weekend, according to preliminary studio estimates.
Last year, this weekend -- typically the start of a busy summer
full of Hollywood blockbusters -- saw box-office revenues plummet
to $843,000, according to Comscore. The Covid-19 pandemic meant
most theaters were closed and people were sheltered at home
watching shows and movies on their televisions and devices. While
the weekend's total represents a significant rebound, domestic
ticket sales for all movies during the Memorial Day holiday
pre-Covid have tended to surpass $200 million.
Still, with the highest-grossing weekend in more than a year, "A
Quiet Place Part II" did what avid moviegoers and Hollywood power
players hoped it would: demonstrate that moviegoing -- a business
which has survived past existential threats like the advent of
television and then home video -- remains a resilient industry
despite consumers' increased adoption of streaming services.
Distributed by ViacomCBS Inc.'s Paramount Pictures movie studio,
"A Quiet Place Part II" picks up where the original, 2018 breakout
box-office hit left off, following members of a small family as
they navigate a post-apocalyptic world where survivors seek shelter
from deadly monsters that have a keen sense of hearing. Actors
Emily Blunt and John Krasinski both reprise their roles. Mr.
Krasinski, who has surprised fans at some early screenings to drum
up interest in the film, also wrote, directed and produced the
movie.
The film has scored high with critics and audiences, registering
a CinemaScore fan rating of A- and a rating of 91% on
review-aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.
Paramount's film had competition. Walt Disney Co.'s latest
theatrical release, "Cruella," also premiered in theaters, grossing
$26.5 million over the long weekend. Unlike "A Quiet Place Part
II," Disney's 101 Dalmatians' origin story starring Emma Stone and
Emma Thompson can also be watched at home via streaming service
Disney+. Viewing the movie from home costs Disney+ subscribers an
additional $29.99 -- on top of the usual $7.99 monthly subscription
fee.
A handful of other titles released in recent weeks, including
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.'s "Spiral," from the Saw franchise,
helped Hollywood reap its biggest weekend in more than a year
despite the majority of theaters still observing limited capacity
restrictions and requiring moviegoers to wear masks.
Going into the weekend, Chris Aronson, Paramount's president of
domestic distribution, said he and his team would have been pleased
if ticket sales for "A Quiet Place Part II" exceeded $40
million.
Mr. Aronson said he was surprised with how well the movie did
considering the film had plenty of competition. "It's phenomenal.
It's really a terrific result," he said.
The weekend's box-office returns -- considering nearly 30% of
North American theaters have yet to reopen, according to Comscore
-- will likely provide both theater owners and moviegoing devotees
ammunition as they advocate against releasing films both online and
in multiplexes simultaneously.
During much of the pandemic Hollywood studios experimented with
various release strategies, including skipping theaters altogether
and hybrid distribution strategies where movies made their debuts
online and in theaters simultaneously or after a truncated run in
multiplexes. Each move represented a major departure from a
longstanding system that gave priority to the theatrical release,
with theater owners enjoying about 2 1/2 months of exclusivity.
At least two coming high-profile releases will follow a
different path than both "A Quiet Place Part II" and "Cruella." Out
June 11, the musical "In the Heights" will be distributed
simultaneously to theaters by AT&T Inc.'s Warner Bros. and
online on HBO Max for no additional charge. Additionally, the
latest installment in the Fast & Furious franchise, "F9" --
distributed by Comcast Corp.'s Universal Pictures -- will have an
exclusive theatrical run of about a month starting June 25 before
becoming available online via premium video-on-demand
platforms.
Mr. Aronson, who suspects the array of different distribution
strategies could lead to consumer confusion, said Paramount's
strategy of showing high-profile films like "A Quiet Place Part II"
and the coming "Top Gun" and "Mission: Impossible" sequels
exclusively in theaters for 45 days sufficiently supports theater
chains.
"We crunched a lot of numbers to get to the conclusion that
across five years worth of film [releases], 98% of box office is
done in 45 days," he said.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 31, 2021 14:04 ET (18:04 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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