SUNDAY AM: AMC’s second concert movie, Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, though clearly frontloaded in its previews/Friday with a Saturday tumble of -48% ($6M), remains solid enough to hit a $22M opening, per industry sources. AMC is calling the weekend at $21M. For a movie opening during the listless first weekend of December, that’s fantastic, not far behind Tom Cruise’s 2003 The Last Samurai, which still holds the weekend’s record of $24.2M. Box office org EntTelligence reports 900,000 attendees for Beyoncé this weekend. The 32x Grammy winner catapulted what is typically a truly off weekend at the box office to $95M+, the best the first weekend of December has seen since 2018.
Sources slapped their foreheads over AMC’s move, which was mutual with Beyoncé, to release the movie over what is a terrible box office weekend. However, here it is, and the movie fared quite well, slightly ahead of its $20M expectations. Should the movie have been programmed during 2024, where we need product? Should the movie have arrived so soon in the wake of unicorn Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour? Surely there were other options. But this was the choice that was made. NYC based distributor Variance handled booking for Renaissance stateside, a la Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, with Trafalgar handling the international release.
Renaissance repped the second straight No. 1 opening at the domestic box office from AMC Theatres Distribution. From Elizabeth Frank, EVP worldwide programming & chief content officer, AMC Theatres:
“On behalf of AMC Theatres Distribution and the entire theatrical industry, we thank Beyoncé for bringing this incredible film directly to her fans through the magic of moviegoing. To see it resonate with fans and with film critics on a weekend that many in the industry typically neglect is a testament to her immense talent, not just as a performer, but as a producer and director. We are so grateful for her vision to bring her Renaissance masterpiece to the big screen.”
How much of a bounce Renaissance gets from the churchgoing crowd today remains to be seen. That is usually the halo effect with Tyler Perry movies. Many are figuring a Sunday that’s off 35% from yesterday’s $6M, for around $4M. Renaissance‘s start is in the $20M+ opening threshold of other big concert movies, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never ($29.5M in 2011) and Michael Jackson’s This Is It ($23.2M 3-day in 2009).
Demos for Renaissance were 72% female; broken down that’s 51% women over 25 (100% grade), 21% women under 25 (96% grade), men over 25 at 19% (96% grade) and men under 25 at 8% (90%). EntTelligence says that Renaissance “skewed older a bit, as evidenced by the daypart traffic” when compared to Eras Tour:
A breakdown of admissions on Saturday:
Beyonce Taylor Swift
Pre 1PM 12% 19%
1PM to 5PM 33% 33%
5PM to 8PM 34% 36%
8PM + 21% 12%
Also boosting this weekend is the third go-round of Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, with $14.5M, a very good -50% hold, and running total of $121.2M, as well as Toho International’s $11M start for its subtitled Japanese movie, Godzilla Minus One. For the latter, that’s the largest opening for a foreign film this year, overtaking Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba, which opened to $10.1M back in March.
The marketing for Renaissance, similar to The Eras Tour, was limited and confined to a handful of trailer drops and a social media push. Per RelishMix before opening, the Renaissance campaign clocked 480.3M followers from Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok (The Eras Tour, because of Swift, counted a social media universe of 604.9M). Comparatively, Beyoncé is 101M under the overall social media universe of Taylor Swift at 522M.
“The Beyoncé movie runs more like brand campaigns that have incremental promotional elements, wrapped into the overall Beyoncé brand channels, and will roll forward way beyond the premiere date. Beyoncé’s fans engagement are trickling into her behind-the-scenes spots, ad partner spots, her Tiffany and Adidas cross promotions, as well as her other music promotional elements. So, more like a television series, which runs for seasons, the Beyoncé movie, as well as Taylor Swift push, are three-dimensional and ongoing,” remarks RelishMix.
Over a third of those who saw Renaissance said it was their friends/family who influenced them to see the film, while 22% said it was the online trailer, and 46% mentioned social media. The first trailer for Renaissance was dropped on Oct. 1, soon after the news broke about the movie. The singer also made a recorded appearance on the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, with another trailer dropped featuring Beyoncé’s daughter Rumi, who appears in the film during a dance sequence.
TV campaign ad spend figures didn’t register on ISpot for Renaissance. But the ad stat org noted that the campaign clocked 15M household TV ad impressions, with Tubular Labs data showing trailers with over 4M views across social media sites (YouTube/Facebook/TikTok) since October. This didn’t include videos published from fans at Renaissance World Tour stops.
Updated, PLF and Imax rep 49% of ticket sales, with the latter grossing $4.6M stateside, or 21% of the weekend B.O. for Renaissance. With an Imax global weekend of $5.1M, that’s the second- biggest worldwide opening for the large format exhibitor for a musical act (concert or documentary) film.
While AMC had the monster share of The Eras Tour‘s box office, many moviegoers thinking that was the only circuit they could see the movie, this time, for Renaissance, the No. 1 movie chain accounted for 51% of the pic’s marketshare (besting the 52-week norm average of 23.6%), followed by Regal at 12.3% and Cinemark at 11.6%. AMC counted 41 of the top 50 theaters. Regal popped into the top 5 with its Atlanta Station multiplex ranking third behind No. 1 AMC Lincoln Square and No. 2 AMC Empire, and ahead of No. 4 AMC Grove 14 and No. 5 AMC Madison Yards in Atlanta.
Top markets for Beyoncé in Friday-Saturday grosses were NYC ($1.9M), LA ($1.4M), Atlanta ($1M), DC ($960K), Chicago ($753K), Houston ($743K), Philly ($671K), Dallas ($649K), San Francisco ($493K), and Baltimore ($478K). Overall, best regions of play were East, South, and South Central.
Another interesting stat about Renaissance was that moviegoers came in groups: 25% brought a friend, while 23% attended with two to four friends, per PostTrak. Infrequent moviegoers actually came out to see the movie, with 35% saying they attend the cinema a few times a year, and 29% every other month.
Posttrak exits also found that 55% of those who watched Renaissance want to see it again in theaters, while 26% plan to buy the concert pic digitally, and 24% on DVD.
Godzilla Minus One‘s targeted campaign included the first trailer drop in July, which was a localized version of the Japanese official teaser and poster, which yielded over 3.5 million video views. A longer trailer, and a localized one for English markets, dropped in September, with 15M+ views across social platforms and YouTube. A second trailer was dropped on Nov. 3, with tickets going on sale for “Godzilla Day,” which marked the 69th anniversary of the first pic’s release. The Toho International marketing team partnered with the NY-based Japan Society to create a fan-first event hosting a screening of the original 1954 Godzilla film in 35 MM over NY Comic Con weekend, and showcasing the new domestic trailer that was soon to be released.
1.) Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce (AMC) 2,539 theaters, Fri $11.7M Sat $6M Sun $4.3M 3-day $22M/Wk 1
2.) Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (LG) 3,691 (-85) theaters Fri $4.1M (-63%) Sat $6.1M Sun $4.2M 3-day $14.5M (-50%) /Total $121.2M /Wk 3
3.) Godzilla Minus One (Toho) 2,308 theaters, Fri $4.7M Sat $3.7M Sun $2.58M 3-day $11M/Wk 1
4.) Trolls Band Together 3,613 (-280) theaters Fri $1.68M (-77%) Sat $3.5M Sun $2.3M 3-day $7.6M (-57%) Total $74.8M/Wk 3
5.) Wish (Dis) 3,900 theaters, Fri $1.63M (-80%) Sat $3.4M Sun $2.2M 3 day $7.4M (-62%), Total $41.9M/Wk 2
6.) Napoleon (App/Sony) 3,500 heaters, Fri $2.1M (-75%) Sat $3.1M Sun $1.88 3-day $7.1M (-65%), Total $45.7M/Wk 2
7.) Animal (Cine) 697 Theaters, Fri $2.8M Sat $2M Sun $1.3M 3-day $6.07M/Wk 1
8.) The Shift (Angel) 2,450 theaters, Fri $1.7M Sat $1.4M Sun $1.1M 3-day $4.35M/Wk 1
9.) Silent Night (LG) 1,870 theaters, Fri $1M, Sat $1.1M Sun $810K 3-day $3M/Wk 1
10.) Thanksgiving (Sony) 2,506 (-698) theaters, Fri $780K Sat $1.2M Sun $640K 3-day $2.63M (-63%)Total $28.3M/Wk 3
Other:
Saltburn (AMZ/MGM) 1,566 theaters Fri $504K Sat $645K Sun $419K 3-day $1.56M (-16%), Total $6.2M /Wk 3
Amazon MGM had 550 theaters that were up in gross from their previous Saturday. The pic’s top 500 theaters are accounting for 80% of the Emerald Fennell movie’s gross with the top 700 driving 90% of the weekend. Best markets are NYC, LA, Chicago, San Fran, Toronto, DC, Boston and Seattle.
Dream Scenario (A24) 1,578 (+1454 theaters) Fri $591,7K Sat $627K Sun $470K 3-day $1.68M (+163%) Total $3.47M/Wk 4
SATURDAY AM: For all the snark that rival distributors had for AMC CEO Adam Aron and the decision to open Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé on one of the dullest box office weekends of the year, that move is proving to be sound so far, as the 32x Grammy winner’s concert documentary is seeing a $20M-$24M opening.
That No. 1 take will propel the entire early December marketplace to its best post-pandemic number, with an estimated $95.3M for all movies. That figure is also higher than the 2019 total weekend box office take for the first weekend of December, which was $90.3M, led by Frozen 2 ($35.1M) in its third weekend, the most a No. 1 movie has seen in the post-Thanksgiving frame.
Also bringing up the rear behind Renaissance is a fantastic third weekend hold for Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes of -47%. or an estimated $15.3M, as well as the solid start of Toho International’s first stateside theatrical release, Godzilla Minus One, with $10M. There are also several indie releases posting in the single digits and filling the top ten chart.
On the sad side of affairs, Thanksgiving releases Disney’s Wish and Apple Original Production’s Napoleon dropped like a rock respectively, with -64% (estimated $7M) and -65% ($7.2M). Both results being front-loaded are rather eyebrow-raising. While Wish was soft out of the gate, Disney’s return to princess movies is posting a second frame percent drop that’s worse than last year’s bomb, Strange World (-58%, $5M). Napoleon‘s second weekend decline is worse than Scott’s House of Gucci two years ago at the same time (-52%). However, it is grossing a similar amount of cash to that Italy-set drama, which posted $7M in weekend 2. Napoleon’s second weekend falloff isn’t far from Scott’s Exodus: Gods & Kings back in December 20, which dropped -66% for $8M, that pic’s final domestic gross at $65M.
Of all the movies relishing a great hold coming out of the Thanksgiving holiday, Amazon MGM’s kinky gothic romance thriller Saltburn from Oscar-winner Emerald Fennell, with a -15% ease or $1.6M third weekend, still at 1,566 theaters. Typically, you have to see a distributor spike their theater count to see a hold like that. Close to 500 locations are actually up in their Friday-to-Friday gross. I’m told the young crowd are discovering the movie. A year ago, Amazon MGM’s Bones and All dropped 47% in the post Thanksgiving/early December period. Running total for Saltburn by EOD Sunday looks to be $6.25M.
Complementing Renaissance‘s current 97% positive and 5-star audience exits on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak is an A+ CinemaScore, a rare feat for any theatrical wide release. Bravo, Beyoncé. The concert pic’s Friday, including $5M previews, came in at $11.6M. Other diagnostics on Queen Bey: The audience is still charged by 72% women, 68% between 18-34, and the largest quad being 25-34 years old at 43%. Diversity demos are 52% Black, 20% Caucasian, 19% Latino and Hispanic, and 9% Asian/other. PLF and Imax are driving close to half of the weekend’s gross. Renaissance is occurring in full force in the East, South, and South Central, with the AMC Lincoln Square in NYC the best theater in the nation, with close to $110K through Friday.
We should beware that Renaissance is front-loaded, with a 40% decline today against Friday/previews in store. On the low-end, the movie could go to $19M, but right now, distribution sources are on Bey-high.
Godzilla Minus One is a plus among those who bought tickets, with an “A” CinemaScore, and updated PostTrak exits of 92% positive, 83% definite recommend. Guys leading at 77%, with 63% of the audience between 18-34 and 25-34 the biggest quad at 38%. Diversity demos are 46% Caucasian, 31% Latino and Hispanic, 7% Black, and 15% Asian/other. Godzilla’s chomp on PLF and IMAX screens are repping 45% of the pic’s weekend biz. Even play across the country, though West is the best. Top venue in the country is AMC Lincoln Square, with close to $26K. Friday was $4.7M, which includes $2.1M previews.
Faring the best among the indie wide releases after Godzilla Minus One is Cinegalaxy’s Animal (in Hindi, Kannada Malayalam, Tamil & Telugu). It’s only booked at 697 locations, but it’s putting up a screen average for the weekend near $9K, or $6.2M. Big ticket sales for this action crime drama in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, NYC, Dallas, San Francisco, and Austin. Check out the trailer below:
Angel Studios’ scif-fi Job movie The Shift is looking at $4.4M for the weekend after a $1.7M Friday. A B+ CinemaScore, which is not normal for a faith-based movie. However, it’s genre for that demo, which isn’t standard. PostTrak isn’t far behind CinemaScore with an 85% positive and 69% recommend. Female leaning at 58%, with close to a third of the audience being 18-34 and a third of the crowd being between 35-54. Interestingly enough, the faith-based over-55 demo had the biggest turnout here at 37%. The middle of the country is the best place for the film, which is no surprise. AMC Empire in NYC is the top-grossing cinema stateside with $6K through Friday. Diversity demos are 50% Caucasian, 30% Latino and Hispanic, 11% Black, & 9% Asian/other.
Poor John Woo’s return to U.S. Cinema after 20 years isn’t spectacular, as Lionsgate’s Silent Night, a silent action movie, received a “C” CinemaScore, with a continued low PostTrak of 67% positive and a 38% recommend. Critics were hard at 59% on RT, but some gave it a fresh rating, i.e. Chicago Sun Times, Variety and Guardian. The New York Times gave it a Critic’s Pick. After a $1M Friday, including previews, the weekend is looking like $2.6M at 1,870 theaters. Guys showed up, duh, at 64%, with just over half of the audience being between 18-34, and the 25-34 year olds the most-attended at 35%. Diversity demos were 53% Caucasian, 21% Latino, 13% Black, and 12% Asian/other. The West is where most of the money is for this movie, with the AMC Burbank leading all cinemas with a $4K take.
A24’s Kristoffer Borgli-directed, Ari Aster- produced Dream Scenario went wide yesterday in weekend 4, +1,454 theaters, to 1,578 locations. Friday was $591,7K, for a weekend of $1.53M. Critics stand at 93% certified fresh on the Nicolas Cage homage, but audiences are more cynical about it at 75% on RT. The West is the best region for the movie, with The Nighthawk in Brooklyn the highest-grossing stateside with $3K. Overall, we’re hearing it’s a flat play across the nation.
The chart:
1.) Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce (AMC) 2,539 theaters, Fri $11.5M 3-day $20M-$24M/Wk 1
2.) Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (LG) 3,691 (-85) theaters Fri $4.1M (-63%) 3-day $15.3M (-47%) /Total $122M /Wk 3
3.) Godzilla Minus One (Toho) 2,308 theaters, Fri $4.7M, 3-day $10M/Wk 1
4.) Napoleon (App/Sony) 3,500 heaters, Fri $2.1M (-75%), 3-day $7.2M (-65%), Total $45.8M/Wk 2
5.) Wish (Dis) 3,900 theaters, Fri $1.63M (-80%) 3 day $7M (-64%), Total $41.5M/Wk 2
5.) Trolls Band Together (Uni/DWA) 3,613 (-280) theaters Fri $1.66M (-77%) 3-day $7M (-61%) Total $74.2M/Wk 3
7.) Animal (Cine) 697 Theaters, Fri $2.8M 3-day $6.2M/Wk 1
8.) The Shift (Angel) 2,450 theaters, Fri $1.7M 3-day $4.4M/Wk 1
9.) Silent Night (LG) 1,870 theaters, Fri $1M, 3-day $2.6M/Wk 1
10.) Thanksgiving (Sony) 2,506 (-698) theaters, Fri $755K (-73%) 3-day $2.525M (-64%)Total $28.2M/Wk 3
FRIDAY AFTERNOON: The weekend ticket sales for AMC’s second concert film Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé aren’t tumbling down and they’re making a sound: After a solid preview night in line with what we saw for first day presales of $6M+, the concert-docu movie directed, written, produced and starring the 32x Grammy winner is eyeing a $20M-$25M opening at this point in time at 2,539 theaters. On the high end, if Renaissance soars to that point, it will be the best opening for a movie during the sleepy first weekend of December ahead of Tom Cruise’s The Last Samurai which posted $24.2M in 2003. Furthermore, outside of Taylor Swift: Eras Tour‘s anomaly start of $92.8M, a $20M+ opening for Renaissance is quite the solid for a concert movie stateside. Renaissance looks to do between $11M-$12M today.
Social Media analytics corp RelishMix spots excitement out there” BeyHivers are abuzz as anticipation grows strong with superfan driven positive sentiment across the board — from both fans who attended the concert and those who did not; boosted from the premiere last week with a star-studded red carpet. Those who attended the Renaissance concert tour in-person look forward to reliving the experience and ‘ ‘being able to relive it again in a more intimate setting!’ and, ‘going dressed up as if I was going to see her live!’ Fans who were not able to attend a live show appreciate the ability to see the concert in a more affordable, even if curated. Some international fans are annoyed by the lack of dates outside North America at the moment.”
In second place, is the third weekend of Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes with a great hold of -49% or $14.8M at 3,691 theaters after a $4.1M (-64%) third Friday and running total by EOD Sunday of $121.5M.
In third is Toho International’s Godzilla Minus One with an estimated $5M today (including previews) at 2,308 theaters and $10M-$11M opening. Last night’s turnout was 82% guys, 73% over 25.
In fourth at 3,900 locations is Disney’s Wish with a second Friday of $1.8M (-78%) and 3-day of $7.6M, -61%; not a good result for the second frame of a Disney animated pic which can do double digit millions during the first weekend of December. A year ago the second weekend of Disney disaster Strange World did $5M. Ugh. Running total by EOD Sunday looks to be $42.1M.
Fifth is Apple Original Productions’ Napoleon via Sony at 3,500 sites, which is seeing a $2.3M (-72%) 3-day $7.45M, -64%, and a running total of $46M.
Moksha Movies and Nirvana Cinemas’ Animal from filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga at 697 theaters is looking at $3M today and about $7M for the weekend. The movie is about a son whose love for his father knows no bounds. As their bond begins to fracture, a chain of extraordinary events unfolds causing the son to undergo a remarkable transformation consumed by a thirst for vengeance.
Universal’s third weekend of DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls Band Together at 3,613 is seeing a third Friday of $1.6M, third weekend of $6.8M in 7th, -62%, and a running total of $74M.
Angel Studios’ The Shift at 2,450 theaters is seeing a $1.9M Friday, $5.2M opening. The movie is a modern-day retelling of Job. Logline: Kevin Garner (Kristoffer Polaha) embarks on a journey across worlds and dimensions to reunite with Molly (Elizabeth Tabish), his true love. The narrative unfolds as a dystopian drama and sci-fi thriller, where a mysterious adversary, The Benefactor (Neal McDonough), disrupts Kevin’s reality. Faced with infinite worlds and impossible choices, Kevin must navigate through an alternate reality, resisting The Benefactor’s tempting offer of wealth and power. As survival hangs in the balance, Kevin fights to return to the familiar world he cherishes and the woman he loves. Critics believed they are suffering a Job fate by sitting through it at 46% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Lionsgate’s John Woo action movie, Silent Night isn’t loud by any means at 1,870 theaters with a Friday of $950K, 3-day of $2.5M.
FRIDAY AM: AMC Entertainment’s second concert film theatrical release, Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, fired up last night with $5M previews from showtimes that began at 7 p.m. While that figure is higher than the Thursday night previews for AMC’s Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour which did $2.8M, you’ll remember that previews for that Sam Wrench-directed movie were announced literally two days before its release.
Hence, The Eras Tour, which posted the biggest opening at the domestic box office this fall with $92.8M, cannot be used as a comp here to Renaissance. Given Beyoncé’s pull on older audiences, particularly women (those over 25 showed up at 53%), an opening in the vicinity of $15M-$20M is expected, and indeed, last night’s ticket sales are considered to be frontloaded. Sources in distribution have questioned why this movie is opening on the sleepy, awfully attended post Thanksgiving weekend. We understand that decision was mutally agreed upon by AMC and team Beyoncé, versus holding the movie until next year.
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That said, critics were crazy in love for Renaissance giving the movie produced, written and directed by Beyoncé 100%, one notch above the 99% certified fresh of Eras Tour. Early PostTrak from Comscore/Screen Engine last night shows audiences also crazy in love for the concert pic at 5 stars, a massive 99% positive and 90% definite recommend. Those who showed up were 70% female with 51% Black, 20% Caucasian, 20% Latino and Hispanic and 6% Asian. The biggest demo were those 25-34 which repped 45% of the audience.
Renaissance is booked at 5,300 theaters worldwide and will only play the Thursday-Sunday frames in the coming weekends similar to Eras Tour.
Meanwhile, Toho International’s first self-distributed U.S. theatrical release, Godzilla Minus One (for those keeping tabs, Crunchy Roll previously released Toho movies), earned $2.1M Wednesday and Thursday previews in 1,921+ locations. The film opens wide today in 2,308 locations with over 750 Premium Format Screens (including 250 IMAX Screens. The Japanese reboot is expected to make in the high single digits-$10M+ for the weekend; however, don’t be surprised if this movie overperforms with PostTrak exits last night of 5 stars, 91% positive along with a 96% positive RT critics score and 97% from audiences. Godzilla Minus One has earned close to $20M from its release in Japan alone.
Lionsgate has John Woo’s first U.S. theatrical release in 20 years, Silent Night, which did $250K in previews last night. The movie is expected to file in the low single digits this weekend. The new film, which uniquely has no dialogue, stars Joel Kinnaman, Scott Mescudi, Harold Torres, and Catalina Sandino Moreno. Robert Archer Lynn wrote the script. The gritty revenge tale follows a tormented father (Kinnaman) who witnesses his young son die when caught in a gang’s crossfire on Christmas Eve. While recovering from a wound that costs him his voice, Kinnaman makes vengeance his life’s mission and embarks on a punishing training regimen in order to avenge his son’s death. Critics are at 62% positive on RT. Last night’s attendees didn’t like the movie at 2 1/2 stars, 65% positive and a 40% recommend. Ouch.
The rest of Thursday night and the week went down as follows:
1.) The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (LG) 3776 theaters Thur $1.7M (-8% from Wed), Week $37.1M, Total $106.7M/Wk 2
2.) Napoleon (Apple/Sony) 3500 theaters, Thur $1.1M (-16%), Wk $26.4M, Total $38.6M/Wk 1
3.) Wish (Dis) 3900 theaters, Thur $562K (-5%), Wk $22.6M Total $34.5M, Wk 1
4.) Trolls Band Together (Uni) 3893 theaters, Thur $516K (-3%), Wk $20.2M Total $67.2M, Wk 2
5.) Thanksgiving (Sony) 3204 theaters, Thur $347K (-14%), Wk $8.8M, Total $25.7M/Wk 2
6.) Saltburn (Amz MGM) 1566 theaters, Thur $309K (-22%), Wk $3.3M, Total $4.6M/Wk 2
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