‘Tis the season for empty cinemas. Have you noticed a lack of big titles so far this year? No coincidence last year’s strikes are having an effect, and this dire state won’t be saved until “Dune: Part Two” shows up on March 1.
Variety is reporting that “Argylle” is going to top the box-office this weekend, but it’s only set to make $6-8 million. Again, the trade emphasizes that the film “cost $200 million to produce,” but director Matthew Vaughn has denied this figure. Regardless, the film has only grossed $18 million so far domestically.
Meanwhile, the only new release on Friday is “Lisa Frankenstein,” and it’s projected to have an overall haul of $4-6 million, good enough for second place. The re-release of Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” will come close to those numbers as it’s set to make around $3 million over the weekend.
Ticket sales are down 15% over this same time last year. This same weekend in 2023 ended up as the lowest-grossing of the year with $53 million across all films. I don’t believe we’ll be getting close to that figure by Sunday. Next week sees the release of “Bob Marley: One Love” and “Madame Web,” both titles are being press screened on Monday evening, and at the same hour — which screening should I go to?
While James L. Brooks teased last year that "we'll soon be seeing" Jack Nicholson, 89, act again, and that he was "reading scripts," that idea has now been shut down by his close friend Michael Douglas, 82.