The last three days have been fairly quiet due to the holiday, but this also means that people might be going to the movies more — mostly for “Zootopia 2,” which is going to open with $160M+ this weekend. The global opening will be around $525M.
Apparently, Netflix — which almost never divulges its box office numbers — somehow reported them for “Wake Up Dead Man,” the third ‘Knives Out’ movie, which is only set to earn $2.5M Wed–Sun, mostly because the film is playing on just 600 screens nationwide. Netflix did Rian Johnson dirty again on this one.
Just to compare, “Glass Onion,” the previous ‘Knives Out’ film released in 2022, opened on 696 screens and earned $13M. So that’s a steep drop for the third instalment, and that’s with Netflix agreeing to give it a 3-week exclusive run.
For some reason, this time around, the major chains (AMC, Regal, Cinemark) opted not to play the film. Instead, the film is showing at Landmark Theatres and Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas rather than the “big 3.” It appears to reflect a broader hesitation by major theater chains toward Netflix films unless there’s a favorable deal.
Rian Johnson has publicly expressed his disappointment that the film won’t be “everywhere,” encouraging fans to check a dedicated theater finder and even ask local theater managers to consider booking it. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
It’s not like ‘Wake Up Dead Man’ isn’t getting positive reviews — it’s a good film. With an 81 on Metacritic and 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s more that it’s not playing in theaters that might be within walking or driving distance for most city people, and it certainly doesn’t help that moviegoers know it’ll be available to stream early next month.
‘Wake Up Dead Man’ is getting a select-theater release for the next three weekends before it goes to streaming on Netflix on December 12.