Box Office Report for the Week of March 17

After two massive tentpoles saving cinemas from an uneventful first two months, we are back with another quiet week at the movies, with Love Lies Bleeding and The American Society of Magical Negroes being the two major releases of the weekend. While Love Lies Bleeding was released in just a few cinemas last week, the buzz of the Sundance Film Festival seemingly sustained, as it made a rather considerable $2 million tally in 1,362 theatres.

We don’t know what the budget for the film is, but it’s likely less than The American Society of Magical Negroes, which did not fare well this weekend, with a meager $1.3 million tally in just 1,147 theatres. Just like Love Lies Bleeding, the film also premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. However, its critical reception wasn’t as strong as Rose Glass‘ sophomore effort, currently sitting at a 30% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, despite two big stars leading the project.

This is especially bad when the Anthony Hopkins-starring One Life made more money in only 985 theatres, with a $1.7 million tally, and the Mark Wahlberg drama Arthur the King had a considerable cume of $7.5 million domestically. Unfortunately, the latter-released film does not have a Canadian distributor. Still, it’s great to see Wahlberg and The Family Plan director Simon Cellan Jones find success after their disastrous Apple TV+ film.

The weekend was once again dominated by Kung Fu Panda 4 and Dune: Part Two, which will have some strong competition next weekend with the release of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. Time will tell what the critical reception for this film will be, but, for now, the DreamWorks animated film has passed the $100 million mark at the worldwide box office, with a $30 million tally this weekend.

Dune: Part Two is also legging out and will reach the $500 mark by next weekend, with a $29 million tally for its domestic box office during the weekend. Was I too conservative with my $800 million prediction? I’m doubtful the film will reach $1 billion, but there’s still a chance, with many showings still sold out for its third weekend, the likes we haven’t seen on the big screen since the Barbenheimer phenomenon. By the end of the year, it will likely be one of 2024’s highest-grossing blockbusters and will likely be a major player at next year’s awards season, despite its March release date. As more blockbusters will be released in the next few weeks, one wonders how Dune: Part Two will leg out, but one thing’s for sure: the film’s historic box office run is not finished. Now, when will Warner Bros. greenlight Dune: Messiah???

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

1. Kung Fu Panda 4 (Universal): $30M (-48.3%) – 4,067 theatres
2. Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros.): $29.1M (-37%) – 3,847 theatres
3. Arthur the King (Lionsgate): $7.5M – 3,003 theatres
4. Imaginary (Lionsgate): $5.6M (-43.5%) – 3,118 theatres
5. Cabrini (Angel Studios): $2.8M (-60.7%) – 2,850 theatres
6. Love Lies Bleeding (A24): $2.4M (+1548.7%) – 1,362 theatres
7. Bob Marley: One Love (Paramount): $2.3M (-43.6%) – 2,272 theatres
8. One Life (Bleecker Street): $1.7M – 983 theatres
9. The American Society of Magical Negroes (Universal): $1.3M – 1,147 theatres
10. Ordinary Angels (Lionsgate): $1.0M (-49.6%) – 1,756 theatres

Source: Comscore