Sunday, November 3, 2024

Here’ Not Moving Much With $1.9 Million Opening Day, ‘Venom 3’ Stays AheadBy J. Kim MurphyPlus Icon

Americans appear less inclined to watch movies as they prepare for the election next week. The widest new release, Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks' time-warping drama "Here," is now coming in behind the already slim projections it had going into the weekend. This means that theaters are seeing a somewhat muted weekend to start November.

The film, which was made with money from Miramax, made $1.94 million from 2,647 locations on Friday and in preview screenings. It is currently on track for an opening weekend that will be around $5.1 million. This is a disappointing sum for "Here," whose production budget was approximately $45 million. Following its acquisition of the film's rights, Sony's TriStar is in charge of distribution.

The goal of "Here" is for the reunion between Zemeckis, Hanks, and fellow "Forrest Gump" star Robin Wright to appeal to an older demographic. The film, directed by Eric Roth and based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Richard McGuire, sees Zemeckis employing cutting-edge technology once more, with numerous de-aging effects on his actors. Here" notices a family's development as the years progressed, with the film camera remaining fixed toward the side of their lounge.

Popular on Variety Although critics have largely rejected it, it is an intriguing formal strategy. The premiere of "Here" on the red carpet of AFI Fest in Los Angeles last weekend was met with a shrug. AFI Fest is a Hollywood hometown event that was geared up to be generous toward a production that had legacy talent behind it. The launch didn't go as planned. These days, adult-oriented dramas are harder to sell to theatergoers, and bad reviews can especially kill them off. Cinemascore gave "Here" a lukewarm "B-" rating from early ticket purchasers, indicating that audiences are also unmoved.


This weekend also sees the release of another film directed by an established filmmaker and aimed at adults: "Juror #2" by Clint Eastwood At its own AFI Fest premiere, the courtroom thriller starring Toni Collette and Nicholas Hoult received a much warmer reception than "Here." Since then, it has received some of the highest ratings for an Eastwood film in over a decade. Variety reported that Warner Bros. is only releasing the mid-budget drama in less than 20 domestic markets. The film's box office receipts have not been reported by the studio.

Sony's "Venom:" remained at the top of the box office. On Friday, "The Last Dance" gained $6.6 million. It hopes to make $86 million domestically over ten days, down 56% from its $51 million opening weekend. The film started slowly enough that it is pacing well behind both previous "Venom" entries, which each exceeded $80 million domestically in their opening weekends alone. However, it is a good hold, especially for a superhero entry, a genre that tends to be more front-loaded. Even though overseas audiences are enjoying The Last Dance more and more, this trilogy finale is expected to finish behind its predecessors.

With another impressive hold, Universal's "The Wild Robot" is returning to second place and aiming to drop just 2% in its sixth weekend of release for a $6.7 million haul. Despite already being available on premium video-on-demand services, the DreamWorks Animation feature has maintained a higher level of relevance than the competition. Through Sunday, it will have reached $120 million in North America, making it the 13th highest-grossing domestic release of the year.

The third weekend of "Smile 2" by Paramount Pictures is expected to bring in $6.4 million, a 33% drop from the previous weekend. On Sunday, the horror sequel will gross $50 million in the United States.

“Conclave” completes the top five, with the Focus Features release hoping to drop just 24% for a $5 million weekend in its second outing. By Sunday, the well-reviewed Vatican-set thriller that is vying for awards attention should have made more than $14 million domestically.

Viva Kids is showing the little-known animated film "Hitpig!" this weekend as well. approximately in 2,000 locations. The film, which features an eclectic voice cast that includes Jason Sudeikis, RuPaul, Anitta, Rainn Wilson, Hannah Gadsby, and Flavor Flav, received a positive Cinemascore rating of "B+." Competitors have "Hitpig!" just over $1 million in its first weekend of release, well outside the top ten on domestic charts.

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