Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire managed to open (slightly) higher than Afterlife, but is it enough to keep the franchise going?
After posting Friday numbers that had the industry thinking that Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire would fall short of Afterlife’s $44 million opening, the sequel rallied to a so-so $45.2 million 3-day opening. While that’s certainly good news as far as bragging rights go (and above the $40 million we had it pegged at), for a movie that cost upwards of $100 million to make (and God knows how much more to market), this opening can’t be considered more than a middling success. When you consider inflation and the fact that Afterlife opened during the pandemic, it can’t be denied that the Frozen Empire audience has shrunk. The B CinemaScore cited by Deadline is problematic, as it doesn’t bode well for the film having much in the way of legs, especially with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire opening next (Easter) weekend. Hopefully, the holiday will help it grow its audience a bit, or I’m afraid this could be the Ghostbusters last big-screen adventure for a while.
Meanwhile, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two managed to eclipse Kung Fu Panda 4 for an impressive $17.6 million finish, only 38% off from last weekend. The movie currently has a total of $233 million domestic ($574 million global), with a $300 million domestic finish still being a strong possibility. Kung Fu Panda 4 comes in third with $16.8 million and a $130 million domestic total, making a finish north of $200 million unlikely unless it has tremendous legs at the box office over the next few weeks.
In fourth place is Neon’s Sydney Sweeney-led horror flick, Immaculate, with $5.3 million. While that sounds bad, it’s actually Neon’s biggest opening to date and not a bad finish for a very divisive movie. Mark Wahlberg’s Arthur the King finished fifth with $4.36 million. It seems like this family movie might have been better off going direct-to-streaming, an area Wahlberg has excelled at in recent years with movies like Spencer Underground and The Family Plan.
Probably the weekend’s biggest (and most unlikely) success story is Late Night With the Devil. This well-reviewed horror flick cleaned-up with $2.83 million, which is the distributor, IFC Films, biggest opening ever. Look for our interview with star David Dastmalchian tomorrow! Holdovers dominated the rest of the top ten, with Blumhouse’s Imaginary making $2.8 million for a $23 million domestic total. That’s not terrible for a movie that was widely disliked by the horror community.
A24’s Love Lies Bleeding seems to be having trouble connecting with a mainstream, non-arthouse audience, making only $1.58 million this weekend. It looks likely to finish with a sub-$10 million domestic finish. Angel Studios’s Cabrini made $1.37 million for a ninth-place finish. Its domestic total stands at $16.1 million, but I’m expecting the movie to get a nice bump next weekend, as it’s Easter, and the faith-based audience may make it their holiday movie of choice. Bob Marley: One Love rounded out the top 10, finishing just over $1.1 million. Its current domestic total is just a few million short of $100 million, so it’ll be interesting to see if the upcoming holiday weekend propels it past the century mark.
What do you think of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s opening? Do you think the Ghostbusters franchise has had its day as far as the big screen is concerned? Let us know in the comments!