Beyoncé has been swarming the box office lately.
“Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé,” a biopic based on her show, had a resounding hit in North America, taking in $21 million on Sunday.
The film business usually slows down after Thanksgiving and into early December, but “Renaissance” defied the odds. Not counting ticket costs, a movie made over $20 million over the weekend for the first time in twenty years (since “The Last Samurai”).
The Grammy-winning concert tour of Queen Bey is the subject of the biopic “Renaissance,” which was written, produced, and directed by Beyoncé. Its premiere was held in 2,539 theatres in the United States and Canada and 94 other countries. 2,621 theatres brought in $6.4 million for the film.
Elizabeth Frank, the executive vice president of global programming at AMC Theatres, thanked Beyoncé for providing her fans with this amazing film straight from the movie theatre industry and the studio. “The fact that fans and critics alike loved it on a weekend that most people in the business don’t pay attention to shows how talented she is as an actress, producer, and director.”
Despite the release of a few more films, including “Godzilla Minus One,” “Animal” in Hindi, “The Shift” by Angel Studios, and “Silent Night” by Lionsgate, this past weekend wasn’t that exciting. Only $85 million will be made by the top ten films.
“Renaissance” made its big launch at AMC Theatres thanks to a “lull” in the calendar.
Comscore senior media researcher Paul Dergarabedian said, “They picked a great weekend.” “There were other films in the running, but they were very different.”
Compared to “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’s” $92.8 million opening weekend in October, “Renaissance” barely made ends meet. This is still off to a terrific start as far as concert films go. “The Eras Tour,” which is set to conclude its theatrical run soon and has made over $250 million globally, was far more successful than anyone could have predicted, and “Renaissance” is no different. Before Swift, Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber had the highest-grossing concert films in 2008 and 2011, respectively, but they had not made over $32 million.
The “Renaissance” tour began in Stockholm, Sweden, in May and concluded in Kansas City, Missouri, in the autumn after stopping at 39 venues and putting on 56 performances. It was viewed by over 2.7 million people and brought in over $500 million in revenue. Swift is currently on her “Eras Tour,” which is expected to bring in over $1.4 billion, and she will be performing at 151 locations across the nation.
Rather than going with a traditional studio, Beyoncé and Swift decide to screen their movie in conjunction with AMC Theatres. The two stars have shown their support for one another by showing up to each other’s film premieres. Both of them have earlier Netflix features (“Miss Americana” and “Homecoming”). There are rumours that both are selling double digits of tickets.
Tickets to the concert cost around $23.32, which is much more than Swift’s $20.78, according to data provider EntTelligence.
The overwhelming response to “Renaissance” from both critics and viewers was positive. It has an impeccable 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and on its opening weekend, moviegoers awarded it the much-coveted A+ CinemaScore. EntTelligence reports that the crowd, which numbered about 900,000, was marginally older than Swift’s.
Dergarabedian remarked, “It’s pretty rare for two concert films to top the charts in the same year.”
It would be inaccurate to draw comparisons between the two, though.
He went on to say that Taylor Swift’s actions were the result of a specific sequence of events. “These two films are only in the same genre.”
Second place belongs to Lionsgate’s “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” in its third weekend with roughly $14.5 million. The prequel’s total U.S. to date has surpassed $121 million.
“Godzilla Minus One” made $11 million in its first weekend on 2,308 screens, making it the biggest grossing foreign film of the year in the US. It came in third on the charts in North America. Toho International’s critically acclaimed Japanese hit picture has made $23 million in Japan so far, while having a production budget of only $15 million. Produced by Toho, the 33rd Godzilla movie features Ryunosuke Kamiki and is set in the post-war age. The film was directed by Takashi Yamazaki.
Koji Ueda, President of Toho Global, said, “This year, we worked hard to meet the needs of the market and make Godzilla available around the world on a wide range of platforms.”
“Trolls Band Together” climbed to #4 at the box office with $7.6 million in its third weekend, bringing its total earnings in the United States to $74.8 million.
Disney’s “Wish,” which made $7.4 million from 3,900 venues and down 62% from its disappointing debut weekend, comes in fifth place. It has earned $81.6 million worldwide. The other big movie from the company, “The Marvels,” is also coming to an end after four weekends in cinemas. It made a pathetic $197 million worldwide, even after spending $300 million for marketing and production.
Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon” earned approximately $7.1 million from 3,500 locations throughout its second weekend of release. The Joaquin Phoenix movie, which was distributed by Sony Pictures and produced by Apple Original Films, has made $45.7 million in the US to date, despite having a $200 million production budget.
Things ought to get better with the release of “Wonka” and “The Colour Purple” in the last few weeks of 2023. The industry’s pre-pandemic $11 billion was exceeded by this year’s estimated $9 billion, despite a notable growth from prior years. It’s officially awards season now, but there are still tonnes of great films to choose from.
Dergarabedian said, “We had a slow Thanksgiving, and this weekend is looking pretty boring as well.” But this weekend offers a tonne of great movies, so it’s a great time to visit the theatre.
Comscore predicts that theatre ticket sales in the US and Canada will largely not change from the previous weekend. On Monday, everyone will be able to view the final home numbers.
1. “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé,” $21 million.
2. “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,” $14.5 million.
3. “Godzilla Minus One,” $11 million.
4. “Trolls Band Together,” $7.6 million.
5. “Wish,” $7.4 million.
6. “Napoleon,” $7.1 million.
7. “Animal,” $6.1 million.
8. “The Shift,” $4.4 million.
9. “Silent Night,” $3 million.
10. “Thanksgiving,” $2.6 million.