Japanese cinema has achieved great heights through all eras of the medium. This weekend, two of the country’s giants — 82-year-old Hayao Miyazaki and 69-year-old Godzilla — came out of local retirement with sleeper hits.
GKids opened Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” to #1 and Toho Releasing saw “Godzilla Minus One” take #3 in its second week. Both distributors smartly chose playtimes when top studios avoided releasing new films and when those in play provided less competition.
The weekend also saw the impressive debuts of three specialized titles. Led by Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” (Searchlight) with the fall’s top platform showing, Ava DuVernay’s “Origin” (Neon) began its one-week qualifying run along with Wim Wenders’ documentary “Anselm.”
The weekend total of $71 million isn’t impressive on its own, but it represents an huge improvement from last year’s $38 million and keeps hopes alive for a $9 billion 2023. Year to date remains up 23 percent, just ahead of the start of studio Christmas releases next week with “Wonka” (Warner Bros.). The musical remake opened in 40 foreign territories this weekend with a strong $43 million.
Possibly Miyazaki’s final film, “Heron,” is a main contender for the Animated Film Oscar (along with “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”). Its opening grosses, which include previously unreported limited showings over the past two weeks, doubles the total gross for any previous Studio Ghibli domestic release. It should sustain through the holidays with a multiple of three times or more. Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away” in 2001 grossed $15 million (today around $30 million) via Disney.
The first homemade “Godzilla” in seven years dropped only 27 percent in its second week for $8.3 million and a $25 million total so far. Budgeted at $15 million, its domestic gross to date nearly matches its successful Japanese run.
Between these niche titles is “Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” (Lionsgate) at #2. The surprisingly strong sequel, already at $135 million, dropped only 34 percent. In a year of underperforming franchises, this stands out (as does the company’s “Saw X”) as one that overcame resistance to the familiar.
The other big surprise in the Top 10 is the collapse of “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé” (AMC Theatres). Last week’s #1 dropped to #6 with $5 million (-77 percent). It stands at $28 million, compared to $180 million for “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.” With Beyoncé’s appeal far outreaching most performers (other than Swift), is the concert model lucrative?
This weekend starts a three-week period with the most aggressive use of platform openings since pre-Covid. And while “Poor Things” was expected to stand out, it exceeded expectations.
“Poor Things” played in four cities (nine theaters), with an estimated $644,000 ($72,000 per theater). It’s second among all limited openings this year, bested only by “Asteroid City” with $853,000 in six. Lanthimos’ 2018 “The Favourite” debuted with $422,000 in four ($105,000 PTA). It’s inexact, but the four best grosses for “Poor Things” (NY/LA) will have a PTA around $95,000. Those theaters have ticket prices about 15 percent higher than the other three theaters in San Francisco and Austin.
The film played with a younger specialized crowd (70 percent under 35), a terrific sign for its future. It begins a slow expansion with 17 new cities. This initial showing, at a time when other Disney units see disappointing results, is a particularly important result for Searchlight.
“Origin,” also a significant awards contender, opened for one week in both New York and Los Angeles as an awards qualifier. The adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson’s “Caste” grossed $116,000 in two, for a $58,000 PTA. It is very unusual for dates like these to report grosses; they’re usually added to the regular runs. It’s a very promising start.
“Anselm,” a 3D documentary with $43,000 in two New York theaters, is one of the top documentary and non-English limited openings of the year. It parallels Wenders’ 2011 “Pina,” also in 3D, on its way to $3.5 million.
“Maestro” (Netflix) played in around 130 theaters this weekend but went unreported, thus losing a chance to gain attention ahead of its December 22 streaming debut. A rough-estimate gross is around $500,000, making the three-week total perhaps $1.75 million. About 50 of these theaters (its only wide showings so far) were in the New York and Los Angeles areas.
“Waitress: The Musical” (Bleecker Street/Fathom), a live stage-performance capture (similar to “Hamilton”) opened in 1,214 theaters for $3.2 million, not a bad response for this niche release. This five-day release is a step up from the weekday presentation usually seen for similar renderings.
At #4,”Trolls Band Together” (Universal, off 21 percent) again bested “Wish” (Disney), which dropped 31 percent. “Napoleon” (Sony) is #7, down 42 percent. At $53 million domestic, $177 million worldwide, it is below domestic but ahead worldwide of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Apple’s other top production.
The Top 10
1. The Boy and the Heron (GKids) NEW – Cinemascore: A-; Metacritic: 92;
$12,836,000 in 2,205 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $5,821; Cumulative: $12,836,000
2. Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Lionsgate) Week 4; Last weekend #2
$9,400,000 (-34%) in 3,665 (-26) theaters; PTA: $2,565; Cumulative: $135,656,000
3. Godzilla Minus One (Emick for Toho International) Week 2; Last weekend #3
$8,343,000 (-27%) in 2,540 (+232) theaters; PTA: $3,285; Cumulative: $25,344,000
4. Trolls Band Together (Universal) Week 4; Last weekend #4
$6,200,000 (-21%) in 3,451 (-165) theaters; PTA: $1,797; Cumulative: $83,082,000
5. Wish (Disney) Week 3; Last weekend #5
$5,300,000 (-31%) in 3,410 (-165) theaters; PTA: $1,554; Cumulative: $49,400,000
6. Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé (Variance for AMC) Week 2; Last weekend #1
$5,000,000 (-77%) in 2,542 (+3) theaters; PTA: $1,969; Cumulative: $28,000,000
7. Napoleon (Sony for Apple) Week 3; Last weekend #6
$4,200,000 (-42%) in 3,350 (-150) theaters; PTA: $1,254; Cumulative: $53,095,000
8. Waitress: The Musical (Bleecker Street) NEW – Metacritic: 74
$3,238,000 in 1,214 theaters; PTA: $2,667; Cumulative: $3,238,000
9. Animal (Cinegalaxy) Week 2; Last weekend #7
$2,275,000 (-65%) in 622 (-69) theaters; PTA: $3,658; Cumulative: $11,522,000
10. The Shift (Angel) Week 2; Last weekend #8
$2,159,000 (-50%) in 2,415 (-45) theaters; PTA: $881; Cumulative: $8,502,000
Other specialized titles
Films (limited, expansions of limited, as well as awards-oriented releases) are listed by week in release, starting with those opened this week; after the first three weeks, only films with grosses over $5,000 are listed.Metacritic scores and initial film festivals recorded.
Poor Things (Searchlight) NEW – Metacritic: 88; Festivals include: Venice, Telluride, New York 2023
$644,000 in 9 theaters; PTA: $72,000
Origin (Neon) NEW – Metacritic: 76; Festivals include: Venice, Toronto (One week qualifying run)
$116,784 in 2 theaters; PTA: $58,392
Anselm (Sideshow/Janus) NEW – Metacritic: 81; Festivals include: Cannes 2023
$43,300 in 2 theaters; PTA: $21,650
Eileen (Neon) Week 2
$615,000 in 532 (+526) theaters; PTA: $1,156; Cumulative: $746,260
The Sweet East (Utopia) Week 2 1
$9,500 in 2 theaters; PTA: $4,750; Cumulative: $54,311
Next Goal Wins (Searchlight) Week 4
$95,000 in 190 (-310) theaters; Cumulative: $6,638,000
Dream Scenario (A24) Week 5
$612,143 in 1,250 (-328) theaters; Cumulative: $4,894,000
Radical (Pantelion) Week 6 255
$118,531 in 150 (-105) theaters; Cumulative: $8,439,000
The Holdovers (Focus) Week 7; also on PVOD
$650,000 in 923 (-389) theaters; Cumulative: $16,396,000
Priscilla (A24) Week 7
$117,356 in 230 (-202) theaters; Cumulative: $20,694,000
