For the first time since 2009, the box office doesn\u2019t have a Marvel film to kick off the summer movie season \u2014 and it shows.<\/p>\n
Since the 2008 release of \u201cIron Man,\u201d Marvel Cinematic Universe films have consistently launched this highly lucrative moviegoing season, with only two films generating less than $100 million openings in that time (not including pandemic years).<\/p>\n
This year, the headline film for the first summer weekend was\u00a0Universal\u2019s\u00a0\u201cThe Fall Guy.\u201d And despite strong marketing efforts and solid reviews, it failed to drum up ticket sales during its opening last weekend. The film tallied less than $28 million during its domestic debut. (Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.)<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018The Fall Guy\u2019 had quality co-stars in Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, but the lack of a known franchise brand and a niche storyline made it too narrow to attract a mass summer-like audience,\u201d Eric Handler, managing director at Roth MKM, wrote in a note to investors Monday.<\/p>\n
Ryan Gosling in \u2018The Fall Guy.\u2019<\/span>Eric Laciste \/ Universal Pictures via AP<\/span><\/p>\n That stumble doesn\u2019t bode well for the summer box office, which was already set to decline from last year\u2019s $4.1 billion haul after dual Hollywood labor strikes halted production and clogged the pipeline of new film releases.<\/p>\n The result could send the 2024 summer box office down as much as $800 million compared to 2023, according to Comscore\u2019s Paul Dergarabedian, and have ripple effects for the whole year. After all, the key summer period, which runs from the first weekend in May through Labor Day, typically accounts for 40% of the total annual domestic box office.<\/p>\n A limited and unsteady stream of new films means moviegoers haven\u2019t been exposed to film trailers and poster promotions at their local cinemas and may not be aware of what features are headed to the big screen. Additionally, this summer\u2019s movie slate is not as strong as prior years, with fewer blockbusters and major franchise films.<\/p>\n There\u2019s only one superhero film slated for the summer \u2014 \u201cDeadpool and Wolverine,\u201d the first R-rated Disney Marvel flick \u2014 and it doesn\u2019t arrive until late July.<\/p>\n At present, analysts believe the summer movie season will exceed $3 billion in ticket sales, but just barely. Before Covid, the summer box office consistently topped more than $4 billion. The last time ticket sales were as low as $3 billion during this season was in 2000, according to data from Comscore.<\/p>\n Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds in \u2018Deadpool & Wolverine.\u2019<\/span>20th Century Studios \/ Marvel Studios via AP<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEven with the inevitable year-over-year revenue downturn, the summer of \u201924 should be judged more by the quality and value of the moviegoing experience than the quantity of box office cash in the drawer,\u201d said Dergarabedian.<\/p>\n So far this quarter, the box office is tracking down 48% year-over-year, Handler noted. While he expects the May slate to help strengthen ticket sales, the box office \u201cwill need to see some big splashes\u201d to \u201creclaim some lost ground.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRight now, cinema operators are in need of a significant content infusion,\u201d Handler wrote. \u201cNot only is the volume of content down in 2Q, but it also lacks sizzle.\u201d<\/p>\n For the rest of May, Disney\u2019s \u201cKingdom of the Planet of the Apes\u201d is currently tracking for a domestic opening weekend of between $55 million and $60 million. Paramount\u2019s \u201cIF\u201d is looking at around $40 million. And Warner Bros.\u2032 \u201cFuriosa\u201d is expected to hit between $40 million and $50 million.<\/p>\n However, those forecasts pale in comparison to major releases during the same month last year. Universal\u2019s \u201cFast X\u201d tallied $67 million during its opening, and Disney\u2019s live-action \u201cThe Little Mermaid\u201d opened to $96 million.<\/p>\n Owen Teague, Freya Allan and Peter Macon in \u2018Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.\u2019<\/span>20th Century Studios via AP<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s yet to be seen if this summer will have any breakout hits, like Angel\u2019s \u201cSound of Freedom\u201d last year, that could bolster the overall box office.<\/p>\n What the summer 2024 slate has going for it is more family-friendly fare. A slew of animated features from established franchises should draw out parents and kids during school vacation.<\/p>\n Currently, Universal\u2019s \u201cKung Fu Panda 4\u201d is the second-highest grossing film domestically for 2024, with $188.4 million in ticket sales. Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment\u2019s \u201cDune: Part Two\u201d is the highest-grossing domestic release so far this year with $281.3 million.<\/p>\n And there\u2019s some heavy-hitters coming during the last stretch of the year.<\/p>\n \u201cBeetlejuice Beetlejuice\u201d arrives in early September, \u201cJoker: Folie a Deux\u201d hits in October alongside \u201cVenom: The Last Dance,\u201d and November sees \u201cGladiator II,\u201d \u201cMoana 2\u201d and \u201cWicked.\u201d Additionally, December will have \u201cKraven the Hunter,\u201d \u201cSonic the Hedgehog 3\u2033 and \u201cMufasa: The Lion King.\u201d<\/p>\n Notably, the first \u201cJoker\u201d tallied $335 million domestically in 2019, both \u201cVenom\u201d films generated $213 million apiece, 2016\u2032s Moana took in $248.7 million and the two previous \u201cSonic\u201d movies scored $146 million and $190 million during their runs in theaters.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately the race is won at the multiplex and not on a spreadsheet,\u201d said Dergarabedian. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n For the first time since 2009, the box office doesn\u2019t have a Marvel film to kick off the summer movie season \u2014 and it shows. Since the 2008 release of \u201cIron Man,\u201d Marvel Cinematic Universe films have consistently launched this highly lucrative moviegoing season, with only two films generating less than $100 million openings in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4147,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}