by Conan Simmons – January 18, 2021 – 5:38 am
January is traditionally a month that sees the wide releases of major award contenders that are expanding after a year-end limited release mixed with low budget filler. This January is no exception to that rule, though slightly modified by the trend in day-and-date streaming due to Covid-19.
This weekends winner is the Liam Neeson star vehicle, ‘The Marksman’. An action-adventure taking place at the U.S. border where popular action star Neeson takes on the evil of drug cartels. It is the only new release to make it into the Top 5 this weekend.
The remainder fo the films are holdovers from previous weeks. ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ drops from the top spot with a modest decline. ‘News of the World’ continues its modest run and ‘Monster Hunter’ holds on.
‘The Croods: A New Age’ remains the strongest performer at the box office holding on for eight consecutive weeks. The animated hit starring Emma Stone continues to make millions at the box office each week in spite of being available to stream.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE TOP 5 (January 15-17, 2021)
- ‘The Marksman’ – $3.2 million – action-adventure (debut)
- ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ – $2.6 million – fantasy (drop $400k, 13% decline)
- ‘The Croods: A New Age’ – $2 million – animated (gain $200k, 11% increase)
- ‘News of the World’ – $1.1 million – western (drop $100k, 8% decline)
- ‘Monster Hunter’ – $920k – fantasy (drop $180k, 16% decline)
The total box office for the weekend comes to $9.82 million. The box office gained 26%, or $2.05 million, over last weekends take of $7.77 million.
As nice as this modest gain is, theaters continue to struggle during this time of coronavirus. There will be some small releases in the next couple of months, a mix of award hopefuls and low budget filler.
Warner Bros. has made a deal with Legendary Pictures, the production company behind many of the studios biggest hits. ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ has changed its previous release date of May 21 and will now be released day-and-date (streaming on HBO Max) starting March 26, 2021. The studio has yet to make a deal with Legendary over the release of the upcoming remake of ‘Dune’ directed by Denis Villeneuve, starring Timothee Chalamet.