UPDATE: The final numbers could be slightly better for ‘End of Oak Street,’ as trades report that it’ll have a $20M–$21M opening weekend. Still, not great, and I have a feeling Warner Bros. is pumping the numbers slightly to avoid ‘Paw Patrol’ going ahead of them this weekend.
EARLIER: Warner Bros.’ “The End of Oak Street” is not doing well this weekend. The $80M movie grossed an estimated $8M on Friday from 3446 theaters, including previews. It’s now looking at around an $18M opening. That’s not good.
Paramount’s PG-rated “Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie” is actually looking to beat it, with around $20M for the weekend. “The End of Oak Street” will debut at No. 4.
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” stays at No. 1 with an estimated $70M, a drop of around 55%. It will also cross the $2B mark worldwide tomorrow. Meanwhile, “The Odyssey” is holding much better. Nolan’s film is looking at $23M in its fifth weekend, down just 27%, from 3217 theaters. Its domestic total will hit roughly $504M by Sunday.
The audience reaction to “The End of Oak Street” has been mixed. Critics have been decent to positive, but audiences aren’t nearly as enthusiastic. The movie has a “B” CinemaScore and a mediocre 51% definite recommend on PostTrak.
There was some talk that this could become a mini sleeper hit, especially from critics who have seen it and genuinely liked it, calling it a solid, old-school Spielberg-style original.
The bigger issue may be Warner Bros. itself. The marketing campaign never really seemed to figure out who this movie was for. The release date wasn’t exactly ideal either. And with all the uncertainty surrounding Warner Bros. and its delayed merger, the studio hasn’t exactly been firing on all cylinders when it comes to marketing.
It’s another frustrating one for Warner Bros. Coming off “The Bride,” “They Will Kill You,” “Evil Dead Burn” and “Supergirl,” the studio now has another movie that looks to have been buried by weak marketing and a bad release window.
Warner Bros. has “Practical Magic 2” and “Digger” coming up next. Let’s see if either can turn things around.
Who's "they," exactly? The Illuminati? The Deep State? Hard to say. The film premiered at Italy's Matera Film Festival on November 10. No reviews have trickled in yet.