Among movies that aren’t catalogue titles from generations past, the top “new” movie this weekend was still IFC’s Relic. The acclaimed chiller, starring Emily Mortimer, Robyn Nevin and Bella Heathcote, earned $235,000 in 126 theaters as it also debuted nationwide on VOD. I don’t have numbers for that launch, but it didn’t show up anywhere near the “top” of the various lists on the various VOD platforms. That’s not a surprise, as while the Natalie Erika James-directed dementia-centric film is good and disturbing, it’s also arguably “elevated horror” to the point of near-parody. In terms of mainstream playability, it’s closer to The Lighthouse than Misdommar.
While we don’t have (and may never have) viewership figures for the various streaming debuts, we had three major-league launches on three of them this weekend. Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Old Guard was the most-watched film or TV show on Netflix over the weekend, topping the likes of Unsolved Mysteries and Illumination’s The Lorax. The mostly well-reviewed action thriller, penned by Greg Rucka and based on his comic book, stars Charlize Theron as the leader of a group of immortal mercenaries. As noted on Saturday, it’s essentially a prologue/set-up for a theoretical sequel, which is a heck of a bluff considering how few Netflix originals actually get sequels.
Ditto Greyhound, which Apple bought from Sony for $70 million. Sony had intended to release the $50 million Tom Hanks-starring (and Tom Hanks-penned) U-boat thriller in theaters first on May and then June 12 before covid-19 messed everything up. Granted, the pricey acquisition wasn’t about recouping costs, more about having money to burn and making a point in terms of acquiring big and pricey prestige flicks. That’s also why they are funding Martin Scorsese’s $200 million Killers of the Flower Moon (with Paramount handling the theatrical release), as even Leonardo DiCaprio starring alongside Robert De Niro doesn’t make such a pricey period piece crime epic a safe commercial beat.
Scoob! was the top-trending movie on HBO Max while Hamilton was top dog at Disney+. Both films were initially intended for theatrical release. The Scooby-Doo toon was intended to open on May 15 in theaters, but Warner Bros. followed the path of Universal’s Trolls: World Tour (and eventually Paramount’s SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run) and opted for PVOD. Disney paid $70 million for the theatrical distribution rights to the Lin-Manuel Miranda stage show, with plans to theatrically release it October 15, 2021. But plans changed and Disney tossed it onto the streaming service as a major Independence Day release, where it caused a (depending on who you ask) 74%-641% jump in subscriptions.
I’ve studied the film industry, both academically and informally, and with an emphasis in box office analysis, for nearly 30 years. I have extensively written about all
I’ve studied the film industry, both academically and informally, and with an emphasis in box office analysis, for nearly 30 years. I have extensively written about all of said subjects for the last 11 years. My outlets for film criticism, box office commentary, and film-skewing scholarship have included The Huffington Post, Salon, and Film Threat. Follow me at @ScottMendelson and “like” The Ticket Booth on Facebook.