With a reverence for nostalgia and a few high-profile cameos in its arsenal, “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” opened above industry expectations with $ 44 million in ticket sales from 4,315 locations, according to the reports. studio estimates Sunday. The Sony SONY,
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The film directed by Jason Reitman and starring Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard and Mckenna Grace plays exclusively in theaters.

The first weekend of “Afterlife” is actually behind that of “Ghostbusters” by Paul Feig with Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, which had a $ 46 million opening in June 2016. Aside from the somewhat unpredictable cinema habits during the pandemic era, the crucial difference is that “Afterlife” costs about half the price to manufacture.

“It’s a really solid number,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “Part of that is the exclusive theatrical release. It shows that this brand is really powerful, even 37 years after the original became a cultural phenomenon. “

The other high-level offer of the weekend did not perform as well. “King Richard,” the well-commented drama starring Will Smith as the father of tennis greats Venus and Serena Williams, has earned $ 5.7 million on 3,302 pitches, nearly missing its modest expectations. The Warner Bros. was released simultaneously on AT & T’s T,
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HBO Max and in theaters.

“They’re really poor,” said Jeff Goldstein, head of national distribution for Warner Bros. “Obviously, avid moviegoers are starting to come back, but more casual moviegoers are more reluctant. “

While traditional blockbusters have been successful in attracting decent audiences, dramas have struggled disproportionately during the pandemic. Most debuted in the $ 3 million range. One of the most successful launches was Aretha Franklin’s biopic “Respect,” which opened for $ 8.8 million.

But the outlook could be bright for “King Richard” with its new 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Audience A CinemaScore and the long track of awards season. In 2018, “Green Book” opened on Thanksgiving weekend at just $ 5.5 million, but by the end of awards season it had grossed $ 85 million.

Meanwhile, in a limited release of A24, Mike Mills’ “C’mon C’mon” had the best limited platform debut since February 2020 with $ 134,447 across five screens. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix as a man who takes care of his 9-year-old nephew.

The box office is still far from what it was before the pandemic. The weekend leading up to Thanksgiving typically generates around $ 200 million in ticket sales, but this weekend will bring in around $ 83 million.

At this point, the 2021 North American box office could fetch around $ 4 billion. In 2019, it was $ 11.4 billion. And there are still major movies on the horizon in December, like “West Side Story”, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “The Matrix Resurrections”.

“Thanksgiving and the holidays are generally great times at the box office. The weekly market is a building block of this recovery path for theaters, ”said Dergarabedian. “These last six weeks are going to be critical. It’s a last push. “