By Chris Kavan - 03/10/21 at 11:13 AM CT
Families continue to drive the box office and provide the only spark against a still-recovering marketplace. While Tom and Jerry brought a big opening last weekend, Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon, despite earning some rave reviews, topped with just $8.6 million, well below the $14.1 million opening for the cat and mouse duo last weekend. A few factors, Cinemark, the third biggest theater chain, refused to show Raya on its 345 screens, siting Disney's decision to also allow it on Disney+ (for a $30 PVOD fee) without lowering rental fees. Thus, it undercut its final numbers by a not-insignificant amout.
The other big news going into the weekend what the opening (in limited capacity) of New York theaters. People were more than happy to show up with a massive 525% surge in box office numbers and making New York the top market overall. With Los Angeles also set to reopen, perhaps the numbers will continue to improve leading into summer and a busy fall season.
Raya's muted opening stateside was echoed by an equally flat opening in China, where it only managed a third-place $8.4 million opening - its biggest market, as it took in $17.6 million international. One hopes Disney can count on longevity for this title, but time will tell.
Tom and Jerry took a 53% hit over last weekend's fantastic opening to secure second place with $6.6 million, giving the film a new $23 million domestic total and its worldwide total now stands at $57.3 million as it joins the Croods sequel as a bright spot amidst the pandemic.
Chaos Walking, the long delayed sci-fi dystopian film from Doug Liman (Jumper, Edge of Tomorrow) starring Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley didn't light up critics or the box office, taking in $3.8 million ($6.4 million global).
Thanks to its New York setting, Boogie - a coming-of-age basketball phenom tale set in Queens, took fourth place with $1.2 million, likely helped out by New Yorkers wanting to get a taste of home on the big screen.
Rounding out the top five Croods: The New Age took in $780,000 after 15 weeks in theaters with $53.6 million domestic and $157.7 million worldwide.
March and April are shaping up to be somewhat muted affairs with the likes of Godzilla vs Kong, Mortal Kombat and Nobody looking to provide the biggest boosts. Things really aren't going to heat up until May when Black Widow is still scheduled to be released and hopefully the vaccine rollout means thing can return to a more normal theatrical experience. Hold tight, we've still got a long, bumpy road ahead, but hopefully we're going in the right direction.
In our ratings bulletin, Mortal Kombat makes its mark while we also get another religious-themed horror film.
While Street Fighter has always been the scrappy, campy type of game/film - Mortal Kombat, with its more visceral style and focus on fatalities, has been a bit harder to pin down on the big screen. But this time around, first-time director Simon McQuoid promises a movie that's more grounded in reality without losing the badass fighting. Helping things along is a solid cast with Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Josh Lawson as Kano, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Tadanobu Asano as Raiden, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Lewis Tan as Cole Young and Mehcad Brooks as Major Jackson 'Jax' Briggs. While not every name may jump out as you, taken together this is well-rounded cast and looks to make Mortal Kombat into a worthy adaptation. Plus, it has a story! MMA fighter Cole Young finds out he possesses a very distinct dragon marking, marking him as one of the Earthrealm's chosen warriors - but also marking him as a target for elimination. Fleeing from Outworld's Emperor Shang Tsung's assassin Sub-Zero, he trains with other worthy warriors at the temple of Lord Raiden, hoping to unlock his true potential before time runs out. The film promises plenty of brutal battles that won't skimp out on the blood. Rated R for strong bloody violence and language throughout, and some crude references.
Religion and horror have gone hand-in-hand since the days of Exorcism and Rosemary's Baby and 2021 is offering up plenty of new content in this genre. One of those offerings will be The Unholy which follows a hearing-impaired woman who gains recovery and miraculous abilities after a visit from the Virgin Mary, but things take a much darker turn when she gains a following and people start dying. Thus the investigation turns to the source of her newfound abilities, which points to something on the evil side. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Cary Elwes, William Sadler, Katie Aselton and Christine Adams headline this affair, which looks to play out in typical horror fashion. Still, aside from family films, horror seems to be the most solid Covid draw so we'll see if this proves a minor hit. Rated for violent content, terror and some strong language.
Those are the two big films for this week, but you can check out the full MPAA Ratings Bulletin below for the rest:
AFTER YANG
Rated PG for some thematic elements and language.
DOMINO: BATTLE OF THE BONES
Rated R for pervasive language, drug use, and sexual references.
ENDANGERED SPECIES
Rated R for language, some violence and bloody images.
EVERYBODY'S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE
Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, strong language, and suggestive material.
LOCKED IN
Rated R for violence, and language throughout.
MORTAL KOMBAT
Rated R for strong bloody violence and language throughout, and some crude references.
PRECY VS GOLIATH
Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements.
PIG
Rated R for language and some violence.
SNOW FALLS
Rated R for brief bloody violence.
THE SPARKS BROTHERS
Rated R for language.
THE UNHOLY
Rated PG-13 for violent content, terror and some strong language.
WILDCAT
Rated R for violence/torture and language.
