by Conan Simmons – November 15, 2021 – 7:19 pm
No surprises at the box office over the weekend as Marvel’s latest, ‘Eternals’, easily held on to the top spot. Despite lackluster reviews the superhero flick is performing mostly as expected after debuting last week to a little less than anticipated.
The weekend’s big debut was the animated children’s film ‘Clifford the Big Red Dog’. Premiering on Wednesday, the film took in $22 million over the course of five days, $16.4 million of which came in Friday through Sunday. The family friendly film achieved congenial reviews from critics who knew not to expect anything groundbreaking, just solid family entertainment. The film is a day-and-date release on Paramount+ streaming service.
The sci-fi epic ‘Dune’ dropped to third place in its fourth weekend in theaters. An impressive showing for a film that is available as a day-and-date release on HBO Max. Most films that have debuted simultaneously on the streaming service drop off quickly form the Top 5.
The 25th James Bond film, ‘No Time to Die’, and the Sony/Marvel superhero fantasy, ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’, round out the Weekend Box Office Top 5.
Also in theaters and of note to those seeking out potential Oscar contenders is director Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Belfast’, a black and white memory piece based on his life growing up in Northern Ireland. ‘Belfast’ has a lot of serious Oscar buzz around it and the film is currently a frontrunner for Best Picture rivaling the Oscar buzz of Jane Campion’s western drama, ‘The Power of the Dog’.
‘Eternals’ has a chance at staying number one next weekend but it’s not a sure thing. Opening wide next Friday is ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’, a sequel to the original duo of films released in 1984 and 1989. Also in release next weekend is the sports biopic ‘King Richard’, starring Will Smith as the father of tennis greats Venus and Serena Williams.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE TOP 5 (November 12-14, 2021)
- ‘Eternals’ – $26.9 million – fantasy (drop $44.1 million, 62% down)
- ‘Clifford the Big Red Dog’ – $16.4 million – animated (debut)
- ‘Dune’ – $5.5 million – sci-fi (drop $2.1 million, 28% down)
- ‘No Time to Die’ – $4.6 million – action (drop $1.6 million, 26% down)
- ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ – $4 million – fantasy (drop $500k, 11% down)
Total for the Weekend Box Office Top 5 comes to $57.4 million. This is a decline of $35.5 million, for a 38% drop from last weekends total of $92.9 million.