By Chris Kavan - 01/05/22 at 11:42 AM CT
We're ringing in the New Year much like the last - with a small update from the MPAA and Spider-Man: No Way Home continuing to absolutely crush the box office. And I have a feeling, at least box-office wise, that we're going to be experiencing a lot of deja vu into this new year for at least a few weeks to come, especially as seeing that Morbius - which was going to be the next big film - has been pushed to April.
Spider-Man: No Way Home not only continues to stay atop the box office, it continues to climb the ladder in terms of highest-grossing films of all time. With its $56 million weekend (down just 33.7%), it topped the $600 million mark with a new $613.6 million - passing The Incredibles ($608.58 million) on lifetime charts. And it shows little signs of slowing and in the following days has already topped Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi ($620.18 million) and will soon top The Avengers ($623.35 million) and by this weekend could challenge Jurassic World ($652.38 million) for the seventh-place spot. If that isn't enough good news for the friendly neighborhood web-slinger, on the international front you can add in an additional $759 million for a worldwide total of nearly $1.4 billion. Things continue to look up for the MCU, we'll see if it continues into 2022.
While Spider-Man may be getting all the attention, second-place holder Sing 2 is no slouch. Dipping just 9.7% over its opening, the animated sequel took in $20.16 million, just enough to cross the $90 million mark with a $90.2 million total. It will soon cross the $100 million mark, though it is still well behind the sequel. It also added in $89.7 million international, putting its global total at nearly $180 million. That is still looking good with the way things are and hopefully it can sings its way to profitability.
Things fall off rather quickly from there, however, as The King's Man in the the third place spot took a 22.8% hit and counted just $4.56 million for a new total of $19.58 million. While that is a fine hold, it's still far and away the lowest-grossing in the franchise. With $28.3 million overseas, it sits at $ 47.8 million global at this point.
Actually jumping up a spot, the feel-good Kurt Warner story American Underdog, with Zachary Levi taking on the role of quarterback, fell 33.3% but managed to bring in $3.9 million, for a total of just under $15 million. It has not opened overseas as of yet.
Rounding out the top five an falling in just a hair below American Underdog, The Matrix Resurrections took a whopping 64.4% hit and took in just $3.8 million for a new total of $30.9 million. The film is struggling mightily and while it is available on HBO Max, the streaming numbers also seem to be a bit lackluster. Overseas it has done better with $75.1 million, but that is not going to be enough to pull out of the red.
All in all, 2021 was up 91% above the abysmal 2020 - but that's what we were expecting - with Spider-Man certainly helping along. The movie theater business still has a long way to go to full recovery, however, as it was still down 61% compared to 2019. It's tough to say if things will get back to normal with Omicron and other variant strains still wrecking havoc, but hopefully we can at least continue to improve across the board. We'll find out soon enough as our first new wide release of 2022 will be the female-centric action film The 355.
Now, even though the MPAA Ratings Board had a nice week off, it looks like they didn't build up too much overflow as this week's bulletin is about on par with a single new wide release and a bunch of flotsam to round out things. Without further ado...
Our one shining star is a return to the magic and mystery of Hercule Poirot with Kenneth Branagh returning as the world's greatest detective - and also as director - with Death on the Nile, which, like so many other films, has experienced several delays but, unlike so many other films, it also has to deal with controversy because of said delays. Murder on the Orient express had an all-star cast and Death on the Nile isn't any different, featuring the likes of Gal Gadot, Rose Leslie, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders, Letitia Wright, Annette Bening, Tom Bateman, Russell Brand and Emma Mackey. However, one name that stands out for all the wrong reasons is Armie Hammer. Back when the film was originally supposed to be released in December of 2019, things would have been fine but shortly after in January of 2020 Hammer became embroiled in a scandal and has since been dropped from several films, divorced by his wife and has lost his talent agency. He has essentially been erased from Hollywood but his part in Death on the Nile remains. Whether this effects the bottom line or not remains to be seen, but it certainly overshadows many other aspects of the film. I truly did like Murder on the Orient Express - it was smart and fun that made the best of its cast. If Death on the Nile can reproduce that, hopefully it can overcome the bad press. Rated PG-13 for violence, some bloody images, and sexual material.
That's the one new film on the docket but you can check out the full MPAA Ratings Bulletin below:
ALINE
Rated PG-13 for some suggestive material and brief language.
ASKING FOR IT
Rated R for disturbing and violent content, sexual material, nudity and language throughout.
THE BEATLES GET BACK: THE ROOFTOP CONCERT
Rated PG13 for brief strong language and smoking.
THE BURNING SEA
Rated PG-13 for peril, some disturbing images, language and brief partial nudity.
DC SHOWCASE: CONSTANTINE - THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY
Rated R for some bloody violence.
DEATH ON THE NILE
Rated PG-13 for violence, some bloody images and sexual material.
ERASER: REBORN
Rated R for violence throughout and language.
GASOLINE ALLEY
Rated R for violent content, drug use, language throughout and some sexual content.
THE GIRL ON THE MOUNTAIN
Rated R for some violence.
GOVERNING BODY
Rated R for graphic nudity involving childbirth, and some sexual content.
LIFE AFTER YOU
Rated R for language.
UNSILENCED
Rated R for some violence.
