Box Office Report for the Week of October 22

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour enjoys another week at the top of the box office, with a $31 million tally. Not bad for a film whose run was initially truncated but is now benefitting from strong legs as demand has reached a record high. Theater exhibitors had no choice but to extend the run to a hopefully long time. It’s already broken several records, so consider it mission accomplished for Taylor Swift, who has already made her mark this year in full swing. The film was also surprisingly nominated at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards last week, a signal of some awards potential as the season ramps up? I have no idea, but it’s an interesting development…

With Halloween on the corner, Disney re-released The Nightmare Before Christmas in theatres and made it to the top ten of the weekend, grossing over $4.1 million in 1,650 theaters. It’s not bad at all, especially considering that it’s apt for both the holiday season and the spooky season. Perhaps another re-release around Christmastime could also make it land in the top ten…

The arrival of Martin Scorsese‘s new movie couldn’t stop Taylor Swift from shaking it off to the top, as Killers of the Flower Moon reached the number two spot and opened at $23 million. Some people will position this as a “flop” for a $200 million production, but please remember this: the movie wasn’t initially designed to have an extended theatrical run. Earlier this year, if Apple had stayed its course, it likely would’ve opened in several arthouse theaters, made a bit of money, and be unceremoniously dumped on Apple TV+ two to three weeks later.

But the streamer is now spending over $1 billion in theatrical-exclusive movies, partnering up with major studios to land some of their biggest titles the release they deserve. For this 206-minute movie with the initial production it was designed in, a $22 million opening is excellent, considering it also benefited from IMAX and Premium Large Format, a historic first for a streaming movie AT THIS SCALE. Yes, Netflix and Apple partnered with IMAX in the past, but never like this. I wasn’t crazy about Flower Moon, but the fact that it had such a release and made a considerable amount of money is not only highly commendable but bodes amazingly well for Apple’s future theatrical projects, with Ridley Scott‘s Napoleon and Matthew Vaughn‘s Argylle also poised to profit far more that way than if they were solely released on the platform.

With Amazon now centralizing its film distribution through Amazon MGM Studios, will Netflix follow suit? I personally hope they will, though they’ve been stubborn on the matter for many years. But when Napoleon becomes a financial success, and Argylle may also profit, will they turn a blind eye or join in on the fun? My money is on the latter, especially when they have mega-blockbusters that dream of rivaling the biggest movie studios.

Here is the full list of the top ten films of the weekend:

1. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Variance Films): $31.1M (-66.6%) – 3,855 theatres
2. Killers of the Flower Moon (Paramount/Apple TV+): $23.0M – 3,628 theatres
3. The Exorcist: Believer (Universal): $5.6M (-49%) – 3,323 theatres
4. PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie (Paramount): $4.4M (-35.4%) – 3,364 theatres
5. The Nightmare Before Christmas (Disney): $4.1M – 1,650 theatres
6. Saw X (Lionsgate): $3.5M (-36.9%) – 2,756 theatres
7. The Creator (Disney): $2.6M (-40%) – 2,490 theatres
8. A Haunting in Venice (Disney): $1.1M (-43.5%) – 1,600 theatres
9. The Blind (Fathom Events): $1.0M (-49%) – 1,059 theatres
10. The Nun II (Warner Bros): $887.000 (-45.3%) – 1,364 theatres

Source: Box Office Mojo