Box Office Report for the Week of February 16

This weekend, there is much to celebrate. Not only is Captain America back on the big screen, with a pretty good opening weekend, though not reaching the numbers of Civil War, but an international animated film is breaking all the records established by Hollywood productions and is on track to become the highest-grossing animated movie of all time. 

It’s already been established by yours truly that Marvel movies, especially in its opening weekend, are usually critic-proof. Eternals made a sizeable amount of money during COVID, Thor: Love and Thunder was a resounding commercial success, and the opening weekend of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was fairly impressive…until word-of-mouth killed its legs (pun intended). The only legitimate box-office dud of the MCU’s 35-film history was The Marvels, which had the misfortune of being released during the SAG-AFTRA strike amid dwindling box-office returns for most movies that came out at that time. 

While the franchise bounced back in a big way with Deadpool & Wolverine, setting records as the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, the future of the MCU is still uncertain, especially when Captain America: Brave New World received mixed reviews from critics and a historic-low CinemaScore of B-. In my opinion, it’s the worst MCU movie ever. However, it really doesn’t matter what I think because it will not stop audiences from flocking to the cinema and seeing the latest entry. It has so far made $88.5 million during its three-day weekend, with an expected President’s Day tally of $100 million. 

That’s all excellent news, no matter if you liked or disliked the movie. Any film that does well in the post-COVID era will always get my support. I also don’t believe “superhero fatigue” exists, but audiences are increasingly tired of mediocrity. That’s why it’ll be interesting to see how the film performs next week, mainly because there will be virtually no competition and no tentpole blockbuster released until Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17, which has been getting good reviews out of Berlinale. Will it be financially viable? Time will tell.

On the family side, the marmalade-loving bear Paddington has a new adventure in Peru and couldn’t smash the juggernaut that is Captain America, but made a sizeable $13 million this weekend. This movie has the chance to have more legs than Cap, especially when the reception for Paddington’s latest entry has been much kinder than the 35th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though the jury will still be out on that front next weekend. 

What I want to talk about this week specifically is the emergence of Ne Zha 2, a Chinese animated film that has just been released in North America. My review for this picture is coming out on this website very soon (spoiler alert: I loved it), so stay tuned, but what I want to discuss right here is how it is beating every single record set by Hollywood animated movies and is about to be the first animated picture to reach $2 billion at the global box office. Some will look at the domestic score, $7.2 million, in 660 theatres and say, “That’s not big.” 

However, it’s important to note that the movie has already made $1 billion alone in China and is on track to making another one with its takings around the world. It is also the first movie to hit the billion-dollar mark in a single country, surpassing the $936 million record set in the United States for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In my neck of the woods, IMAX early access showings sold out within SECONDS after Cineplex made the announcement that tickets were on sale (even yours truly couldn’t get one, and he’s usually quite fast on the mark). Auditoriums are continuously selling more seats than Captain America: Brave New World, which is insane.

Surely, some will read this article and say, “What’s the hype behind this movie?” I encourage you to see it because it won’t take long for you to know why. Trust me. After that, you’ll completely understand why it’s obliterating all animated box office records and is set to beat Frozen 2, Inside Out 2, and the 2019 remake of The Lion King in just a few days from now. It truly is an achievement unlike any other, not only commercially but artistically, pushing the medium of animation in ways that many filmmakers dream of seeing on the big screen. And you won’t regret taking my word for it and going to the cinema to potentially have the time of your life. Stay tuned for more!

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

1. Captain America: Brave New World (Disney): $88.5M – 4,105 theatres
2. Paddington in Peru (Sony): $13.0M – 3,890 theatres
3. Heart Eyes (Sony): $10.0M (+20%) – 3,102 theatres
4. Dog Man (Universal): $9.7M (-30%) – 3,334 theatres
5. Ne Zha 2 (CMC Pictures): $7.2M – 660 theatres
6. Love Hurts (Universal): $4.3M (-25%) – 3,055 theatres
7. Mufasa: The Lion King (Disney): $4.1M (+4%) – 2,240 theatres
8. One of Them Days (Sony): $2.9M (+4%) – 1,357 theatres
9. Companion (Warner Bros): $1.87M (-38%) – 1,062 theatres
10. Becoming Led Zeppelin (Sony): $1.81 (-30%) – 1,039 theatres

Source: Comscore