It was something new and not entirely expected. After cinemas in the Greater Los Angeles area reopened last week, the first patrons, albeit limited to 25% occupancy and no more than 100 people per theater, erupted in applause at the first frames on the screens. Without conspiring and in different locations.
Meanwhile, tens of millions more Americans have been vaccinated across the country and this number, according to the promise of the US President Biden, will reach 100 million by May of this terrible for movie distribution 2021. Against this backdrop, the box office this weekend showed signs of continued growth, despite the fact that only one new film from a major studio opened in theaters. These major studios are still holding on to their potential blockbusters in the hope of a relatively quick expansion in distribution capacity, including at least halving theater occupancy.
Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon stayed at No. 1 for its third weekend in a row, dropping just 5% to $5.2 million from 2,261 screens, and to date has earned the North America (USA and Canada together) 23.4 million dollars.
The second place went to the “hybrid” cartoon with live actors from Warner Bros. Tom & Jerry dropped just 7% to $3.84 million, bringing its total to $33.69 million by the end of its fourth weekend. Notably, the newly opened Los Angeles was the top box office klondike for the film this weekend.
The only new studio release this weekend was Lionsgate’s thriller The Sourier. This is a fairly well-known story from the 60s about the relationship between the Soviet spy Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze), who worked for British intelligence and was executed for it, and the English businessman Greville Wynn (Benedict Cumberbatch), who became a spy “involuntarily”. The third-placed film opened on +1,433 screens and grossed around $2.01 million. This is a rather weak result.
And, as always, for a snack about gatherings outside of North America. Rayyan and the Last Dragon grossed around $8 million in 29 countries, bringing its overseas total to $47.8 million and its global total to $71.2 million. Tom and Jerry grossed about $4 million in 41 countries and has now brought its box office to $43.5 million overseas and to $77.2 million worldwide. As always, China is ahead! To date, the “relaunch” of the world box office record holder Avatar has collected 44 million dollars here!
Russian director Ilya Naishuller’s Hollywood action film Nobody, starring popular American actor Bob Odenkirk, opened in four foreign countries ahead of its North American release next weekend, earning $2.64 million, including $1.25 million in of Russia