Quigley

2024-04-18T13:54:58Z

Weekend: April 11-14, 2024

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Kung Fu Panda 4	9,427	-37.4%	105	-30	118,047	4
2	Back to Black	6,786	–	73	–	6,786	1
3	Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire	6,522	–	95	–	6,522	1
4	Late Night with the Devil	3,288	–	45	–	3,288	1
5	The First Omen	3,008	-60.3%	37	-68	14,769	2
6	Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire	2,981	-57.6%	32	-36	32,819	3
7	The Canterville Ghost	2,474	–	60	–	2,474	1
8	Dune: Part Two	2,103	-46.0%	19	-11	168,529	7
9	Noah’s Ark	1,844	-39.2%	48	-22	5,137	2
10	Уроците на Блага (Blaga’s Lessons) [Bulgarian]	1,455	–	6	–	1,455	1

Sources: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-11-4-2024.html

https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-panda-forever/

The box office doldrums are here to stay I'm afraid. With a mere 47,528 admissions, this was the quietest weekend since the 2023 Easter weekend (exactly one year ago: 26,960 admissions). Before that, we'd have to go back to the 2022 Feast of the Dormition weekend (mid-August: 30,500 admissions). Both feasts though (Easter and the Dormition) are quiet due to the religious holiday. In order to find a quieter weekend than the last one (excluding these religious holidays), one would have to go back two years, to late May 2022 (May 19-22: 35,098 admissions). That was a time when many coronavirus-related restrictions were still in place and the fear of the pandemic was probably still heightened among certain demographics. Therefore, last weekend's performance is very concerning. Furthermore, it's been an entire year (2023 Easter weekend) since the last time that no film managed to sell more than 10,000 admissions. Which is to suggest that there is widespread disinterest among Greece's moviegoers for this season's film slate. The situation is unlikely to change until after the Easter holidays.

'The 'Kung Fu Panda' fourquel topped the chart for the fourth time. It has overtaken 'Kung Fu Panda 2' and is days away from beating 'Kung Fu Panda 3'. However, the original is far out of reach (200.6K admissions). It is worth noting that 'Dune 2' still hasn't had a single weekend drop bigger than 50%; however, it will be wrapping up its run around 175,000 admissions, short of the 200K-admission blockbuster milestone. Unfortunately, there is not much else to say about the weekends newcomers or holdovers, except that they all performed abysmally.

April 9

Weekend: March 4-7, 2024

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Kung Fu Panda 4	15,070	-44.0%	135	-32	106,086	3
2	The First Omen	7,586	–	105	–	7,586	1
3	Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire	7,025	-51.3%	68	-40	27,154	2
4	Dune: Part Two	3,892	-39.1%	30	-12	164,443	6
5	Noah’s Ark	3,033	–	70	–	3,033	1
6	Something in the Water	2,223	–	29	–	2,223	1
7	Immaculate	2,203	-61.2%	18	-20	31,840	3
8	The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (re-release)	2,061	–	6	–	2,061	1
9	Arthur the King	1,822	–	48	–	1,822	1
10	Perfect Days	1,231	-25.6%	19	-4	47,584	7

Sources: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-4-4-2024.html

https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-not-even-the-antichrist-could-move-the-panda-from-the-top-spot/

With cumulative admissions barely crossing 50K admissions (54,094), this was the quietest weekend of the year so far. The latest instalment in DreamWorks Animation 'Kung Fu Panda' franchise retained its lead with a relatively big drop for an animated film. It caught up with its immediate predecessor, which had dropped by 61% to 12,547 admissions on its third weekend for a cume of 106,352 admissions. What's clear is that the fourquel will beat 'Panda 2' and has good chances of moving ahead of 'Panda 3'. Of course, the original's total is out of range (200.6K admissions). 'Godzilla x Kong' didn't hold well and won't be reaching any notable milestones. 'Dune 2' is declining slowly and steadily after having reached a decent tally. The weekend's Top 10 was met with a flurry of new releases that were no match for 'Kung Fu Panda 4'. In fact, they would barely beat the latter if we added up all their openings together.

'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' is landing in theaters this coming week, but it is unlikely to make any meaningful impact on the overall gloomy state of the box office.

April 2

Weekend: March 28-31, 2023

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Kung Fu Panda 4	26,896	-37.8%	167	+21	86,267	2
2	Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire	14,437	–	108	–	14,437	1
3	Dune: Part Two	6,389	-47.4%	42	-24	157,051	5
4	Immaculate	5,674	-56.9%	38	-36	26,346	2
5	Baghead	4,661	–	37	–	4,661	1
6	Race for Glory	2,463	–	27	–	2,463	1
7	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug (re-release)	2,017	–	6	–	2,017	1
8	Perfect Days	1,654	-28.7%	23	-6	45,686	6
9	Rapito [Italian]	1,354	–	26	–	1,354	1
10	Oppenheimer	948	-60.0%	16	-12	439,516	32

Sources: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-28-3-2024.html

https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-kung-fu-panda-beats-godzilla-x-kong/

This past weekend, a slew of new releases entered the market, but none of them was a match for DreamWorks Animation fourquel 'Kung Fu Panda 4'. In fact, all five newcomers added up to less than 25,000 admissions, a number that still wouldn't beat 'Panda 4's' sophomore frame. As a result, cumulative weekend admissions dropped to 75,221 and likely won't recover until the post-Easter weekend, since April has a very weak slate of films and Easter falls on May 5, meaning we can only hope for any decent box office traction from mid-May onwards. Even then, the summer period is always quieter than winter in Greece, which means that we're now entering into box office doldrums until late August.

The news doesn't get any better... 'Panda 4' dropped by a decent 38%, but once you compare it to its immediate predecessor, things get bleak. 'Panda 3' dropped by a mere 9% to 32,308 admissions on its second weekend and had racked up 91,037 admissions by that time. Thus 'Panda 4' is already running behind its predecessor. 'Dune 2' had a respectable drop, given that last weekend was a holiday weekend, but the 200K-admission blockbuster milestone is almost certainly out of reach.

The biggest disappointment of the weekend though was 'Godzilla x Kong', which performed quite well around the world, but was unable to motivate Greek moviegoers. Gone are the days of 2005's 'King Kong' (230K-admission total) or 2017's 'Skull Island' (107K-admission total). The crossover film will be lucky to beat 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters', which sold 32,844 admissions in 2019, after a 13,271-admission opening.

Having wrapped up its first quarter, 2024 is leading 2023 by 8.3%, which is far less than the 25% lead it had at the end of January. There was a significant slowdown in the months of February and March, due mostly to underperforming high-profile Hollywood releases. If 2024 retains this lead, it will end with 8 million admissions, which is significantly less (17% less) than 2017-2019 average (9.67 million admissions).

March 27

Weekend: March 14-17, 2023 and Clean Monday

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions (by Sunday)	Monday admissions	Week
1	Dune: Part Two	17,366	-30.4%	89	-37	123,242	2,820	3
2	Oppenheimer	4,195	+944%	44	N/K	433,965	539	30
3	Force of Nature: The Dry 2	3,164	–	31	–	3,164	531	1
4	Perfect Days	3,051	-39.8%	34	-13	38,937	615	4
5	Poor Things	3,015	+56.7%	45	+19	419,815	303	11
6	Imaginary	2,897	-50.7%	26	-30	12,854	514	2
7	The Zone of Interest	2,582	+131%	34	Ν/Κ	59,783	441	14
8	Chien et Chat [French]	2,516	-35.7%	63	0	6,781	363	2
9	Inspector Sun y la maldición de la viuda negra [Spanish]	2,513	-21.4%	50	-20	11,830	227	3
10	Коты Эрмитажа (Cats in the Museum) [Russian]	2,499	-2.1%	29	-6	47,458	225	8

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-clean-monday-won-obviously/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-14-3-2024.html

The post-Oscar weekend saw some expected boosts for Oscar winners, but in terms of cumulative admissions, it registered the worst numbers of the year so far (57,691). Interestingly, it was the three Oscar contenders that received more than one Oscar award that landed a place in the Top 10. No one thought though that 'Oppenheimer' would have made it all the way up to second place. It has now overtaken 'Murderess' to reclaim second place among 2023 films. 'Poor Things' also received a sizeable boost, being the title that grabbed the second biggest number of Oscar awards, after 'Oppenheimer'. The film's box office trajectory has met my expectations and, while it ranks fourth among 2023 films, it could very well beat 'Murderess' to conclude its run at third place. The remainder of the Top 10 saw relatively strong holds, thanks to the Monday public holiday. 'Dune 2' achieved what was obvious from the beginning: it has now sold more overall tickets than its predecessor. It had a slightly bigger drop than its predecessor's 3rd weekend, yet it is an unusually small drop for a film of its genre.

Weekend: March 21-24, 2023 and Independence Day (Monday)

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions (by Sunday)	Monday admissions	Week
1	Kung Fu Panda 4	43,250	–	146	–	43,250	10,327	1
2	Immaculate	13,175	–	74	–	13,175	2,280	1
3	Dune: Part Two	12,142	-30.1%	66	-23	144,529	2,401	4
4	Knox Goes Away	4,254	–	47	–	4,254	682	1
5	The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (re-release)	2,414	–	7	–	2,414	439	1
6	Oppenheimer	2,372	-43.5%	28	-16	437,910	269	31
7	Perfect Days	2,321	-23.9%	29	-5	42,820	675	5
8	Los colonos [Chilean–Argentinian–British]	1,716	–	9	–	1,716	423	1
9	Poor Things	1,474	-51.1%	22	-23	422,418	277	12
10	The Zone of Interest	1,370	-46.9%	17	-17	62,269	255	15

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-kung-fu-panda-4-beats-the-hell-of-the-top-spot/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-21-3-2024.html

This was the second weekend in a row that was followed by a Monday public holiday. There was a decent uptick in admissions (97,279 admissions). 'Dune 2' scored another minor drop. Despite retaining momentum, there are signs that it is following a slightly more frontloaded trajectory than its predecessor. Based on these indications, it seems more likely than not that it won't make it to the 200K-admission blockbuster milestone. I wanted to get any 'Dune 2'-related news out of the way to discuss, of course, the big winner of the week: 'Kung Fu Panda 4'. The DreamWorks Animation fourquel has scored the biggest opening of the 'Kung Fu Panda' franchise and the fourth biggest opening for the troubled animation studio. It is also the biggest opening for the studio outside of the 'Madagascar' franchise. Check out the Top 10 (plus number 11, to include the entire 'Kung Fu Panda' franchise):

DreamWorks Animation (since 2003)
*Title*	*Opening weekend*	*Release date*	*Total admissions*	*Multiple*
Madagascar	60,000	27/10/05	210,000	3.50
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted	57,560	30/08/12	256,200	4.45
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa	50,360	18/12/08	323,607	6.43
Kung Fu Panda 4	43,250	21/03/24	53,577	1.24
Shrek 2	40,600	22/10/04	161,500	3.98
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World	39,519	11/04/19	128,046	3.24
Kung Fu Panda	38,580	04/09/08	200,600	5.20
Kung Fu Panda 3	35,335	17/03/16	123,831	3.50
Penguins of Madagascar	30,637	27/11/14	128,191	4.18
Shrek the Third	28,400	06/09/07	181,250	6.38
Kung Fu Panda 2	27,040	02/06/11	110,195	4.08

'Kung Fu Panda 4' also managed to beat 'Dune 2's' opening by a few hundred admissions. Using a reasonable 4x multiple, my estimate for 'Kung Fu Panda 4's' final tally is around 170,000 admissions, but given that each chapter in the 'Kung Fu Panda' franchise has been more frontloaded than the previous one, it is possible that this instalment won't make it past 150,000 admissions. All in all, I'm sensing a close race between 'Dune 2' and 'Kung Fu Panda 4', in terms of which film sells more overall admissions.

In other news, 'Oppenheimer' has moved safely ahead of 'Murderess', while 'Poor Things' is slowing down significantly and might have to remain in fourth place among 2023 titles. Check out the updated Top 10 chart here.

There are three film coming out next weekend: 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire', motor racing film 'Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia' and horror film 'Baghead'. 'Godzilla x Kong' seems to be the only one that has a chance at dethroning 'Kung Fu Panda 4'.

March 12

Weekend: February 29-March 3, 2024

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Dune: Part Two	42,778	–	145	–	42,778	1
2	Perfect Days	8,719	-20.0%	39	+1	24,953	2
3	Inspector Sun y la maldición de la viuda negra [Spanish]	5,370	–	75	–	5,370	1
4	Anyone but You	5,320	-30.6%	37	-9	55,675	4
5	When Evil Lurks	4,408	-40.5%	20	-35	16,118	2
6	Poor Things	3,788	-40.3%	34	-13	411,887	9
7	Коты Эрмитажа (Cats in the Museum) [Russian]	3,425	-33.2%	36	-10	41,793	6
8	The Holdovers	2,785	-38.8%	30	-11	76,384	6
9	All of Us Strangers	2,703	-43.5%	19	-13	20,920	3
10	The Zone of Interest	1,673	+8.1%	20	+1	54,653	12

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-dune-part-two-tops-and-goes-stronger-with-premium-screens/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-29-02-2024.html

Weekend: March 7-10, 2024

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Dune: Part Two	24,968	-41.6%	126	-19	91,245	2
2	Imaginary	5,876	–	56	–	5,876	1
3	Perfect Days	5,069	-41.9%	47	+8	33,511	3
4	Chien et Chat [French]	3,912	–	63	–	3,912	1
5	Inspector Sun y la maldición de la viuda negra [Spanish]	3,199	-40.4%	70	-5	8,993	2
6	Anyone but You	2,949	-44.6%	26	-11	60,678	5
7	Коты Эрмитажа (Cats in the Museum) [Russian]	2,553	-25.5%	35	-1	44,721	7
8	The Holdovers	2,311	-17.0%	33	+3	79,551	7
9	When Evil Lurks	2,104	-52.3%	22	+2	20,417	3
10	Poor Things	1,924	-49.2%	26	-8	415,342	10

Sources: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-07-03-2024.html

https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-no-one-beats-grill-day/

The first two weekends of March have been quite underwhelming, mostly due to the mediocre debut of 'Dune: Part Two'. Though it wasn't a blockbuster, the sequel still opened 62% higher than its predecessor and had a similar sophomore drop. If it continues to follow the trajectory of its predecessor, it could reach 180K admissions, but it would miss the 200K-admission blockbuster mark. Interestingly, its second weekend included Barbecue Thursday or, more precisely, Smell-of-grilled-meat Thursday, which is the last Thursday when meat is consumed by those who observe Lent. Even though few people observe Lent, Barbecue Thursday is somewhat of an unofficial public holiday that most Greeks use as an excuse to (pun not intended) meet up and grill meat, one of Greeks' favorite pastimes. This had a negative impact on cinema admissions, yet the worst % drop in the Top 10 was only 52% and most were around 40%. The following two weekends are long weekends, with Monday, March 18 and Monday, March 25 being public holidays. These holidays don't generally tend to boost the box office, but they don't really hurt it either. Overall, it is basically guaranteed that 'Dune 2' will reach 150K admissions, but anything higher than that depends on word-of-mouth, which is so far quite good from what I've heard.

Jumping from first to tenth place, we've seen 'Poor Things' decline steadily over the last few weeks. Having lost the Oscar Best Picture contest but still managing to garner four wins in other categories, I doubt we will see any big boost next weekend. On the other hand, we might get a re-expansion of Best Picture winner 'Oppenheimer' that could allow it overtake 'Murderess' and jump back to second place among 2023 films. 'Poor Things' will nevertheless remain in fourth place among 2023 films, with a truly impressive overall result. One can only wonder if Yorgos Lanthimos has reached the peak of his commercial success (in Greece, at least) or if he's got more surprises for us in the future.

The remainder of the Top 10 (both during this weekend and the last) was quite boring and uneventful. In fact, this weekend marked the first weekend of 2024 that trailed the same weekend of 2023. It fell behind by a whopping 36%. 'Dune 2' had its chance to be the next big thing, but it is now clear that it failed. Next weekend will be even quieter, with eyes now on 'Kung Fu Panda 4'. The fourquel will be released in Greece on March 21.

March 3

On 3/3/2024 at 12:37 AM, BoxOfficeManiac said:

How many total admissions did Dune: Part One have? I see this having good legs as there is very little competition for the next few weeks. 300k+ should be in reach?

'Dune' sold 114,644 admissions. You can see how it compares to other 2021 films here.

'Dune: Part Two' could reach the 200K-admission blockbuster milestone if it follows the trajectory of its predecessor, but 300K admissions sounds like way too much.

We find out opening weekend results tomorrow...

March 2

'Dune: Part Two' sold approx. 8,500 admissions on its opening day (Thursday). This is almost double the opening of its predecessor (4,862 admissions), which was also a Thursday. If it follows the same trajectory, it will earn 46,000 on its opening weekend. That is about two-thirds of 'Barbie's' opening in Greece and less than half of 'Oppenheimer'. Slightly higher than 'Napoleon' and on par with 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny' and 'Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One'. Not bad but nothing outside the realm of realistic expectations.

March 2

News from GREECE

'Dune: Part Two' sold approx. 8,500 admissions on its opening day (Thursday). This is almost double the opening of its predecessor (4,862 admissions), which was also a Thursday. If it follows the same trajectory, it will earn 46,000 on its opening weekend. That is about two-thirds of 'Barbie's' opening in Greece and less than half of 'Oppenheimer'. Slightly higher than 'Napoleon' and on par with 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny' and 'Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One'. Not bad but nothing outside the realm of realistic expectations.

February 29

Weekend: February 22-25, 2024

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Perfect Days	10,896	–	38	–	10,896	1
2	Anyone but You	7,662	-29.1%	46	9	47,150	3
3	When Evil Lurks	7,410	–	55	–	7,410	1
4	Poor Things	6,344	-18.7%	47	-6	405,381	8
5	Коты Эрмитажа (Cats in the Museum) [Russian]	5,130	-16.4%	46	-6	37,627	5
6	All of Us Strangers	4,784	-29.6%	32	-1	16,058	2
7	The Holdovers	4,552	-33.0%	41	-7	71,744	5
8	Madame Web	3,698	-61.1%	42	-39	17,202	2
9	Maya the Bee 3: The Golden Orb	2,435	-36.3%	54	-16	12,750	3
10	Land of Bad	2,150	–	27	–	2,150	1

Sources: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-22-02-2024.html

https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-no-major-release-allowed-perfect-days-to-steal-the-top-spot/

February has proven a complete disaster for the box office, due to really poor scheduling and also probably inadequate marketing. This is how we ended up with two major action films with high-profile actors ('Land of Bad' and 'Red Right Hand') scoring abysmal openings on the same weekend, with the prior landing at 10th place and the latter opening outside of the Top 10! Overall, only 74,686 admissions were sold this weekend, which -believe it or not- is actually 22% higher than the same time last year, so I guess it was a... success? The unmitigated disaster was a repeat of what happened the weekend before, with a rom-com ('Beautiful Wedding') opening outside the Top 10 on a post-Valentine's Day weekend and a film about the iconic Bob Marley opening at #7.

This left a void that was occupied by arthouse productions. While these films didn't really overperform, they managed to rank quite high, with Oscar contender 'Perfect Days' topping the weekend chart and 'When Evil Lurks' opening in third place. Last weekend's winner, 'Anyone but You' had a pretty decent hold, as was the case for almost all holdovers. Only one Top 10 film registered a drop bigger than 40% and that was Sony's female-led superhero film 'Madame Web'. Its precipitous drop complemented its tragic opening, resulting in one of the worst superhero-film performances of the last quarter-century. Oscar Best Picture contender 'Poor Things' had another stellar weekend, with a sub-20% drop. 'Oppenheimer' (428K admissions) is now within range, given that 'Poor Things' is bound to see an uptick on the post-Oscar weekend. The best hold of the Top 10 was achieved by Russian animated film 'Cats in the Museum', which however won't get much further than 60K admissions.

All eyes are now on 'Dune: Part Two', which will need to outgross its predecessor by a significant margin in order to put the box office out of its misery (shall we call it 'the calm before the storm'?). The film will debut alongside Spanish animated film 'Inspector Sun y la maldición de la viuda negra' (Inspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow) and 'Joika'.

February 22

Weekend: February 15-18, 2024

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Anyone but You	10,803	-17.7%	37	-34	34,316	2
2	Madame Web	9,499	–	81	–	9,499	1
3	Poor Things	7,800	-38.4%	53	-22	395,067	7
4	All of Us Strangers	6,799	–	33	–	6,799	1
5	The Holdovers	6,792	-31.8%	48	-18	64,883	4
6	Коты Эрмитажа (Cats in the Museum) [Russian]	6,139	+7.4%	52	-4	31,850	4
7	Bob Marley: One Love	5,839	–	64	–	5,839	1
8	Maya the Bee 3: The Golden Orb	3,823	-29.3%	70	-10	9,897	2
9	君たちはどう生きるか (The Boy and the Heron) [Japanese]	2,698	-45.1%	33	-4	21,945	3
10	The Beekeeper	2,625	-38.9%	19	-7	87,463	6

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-last-years-sour-grapes/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-15-02-2024.html

The February box office doldrums have no end in sight, since cumulative admissions dipped further to 80,686. That is still slightly higher (2%) than the same time last year; however, if 2024 is to return to the pre-pandemic admission levels, it needs to be ahead of 2023 by 30%.

The weekend's winner was last weekend's winner, summer rom-com 'Anyone but You', which, despite losing half its screens, dropped only 18%. This is undoubtedly a post-Valentine's effect, although most holdovers performed very well, with no Top 10 film decreasing by more than 50%. On the other hand, newcomers were absolute duds. Female-led superhero film 'Madame Web' recorded one of the worst comic-book openings in the genre's history. It was a far cry even from female-led 'The Marvels' (16,311-admission opening), which was itself an utter commercial failure. I am aware of only one superhero film with a smaller opening and that is 'Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance', which started off with 8,551 admissions in May 2012 and ended its run with 19,673 admissions. An even worse fate than 'Madame Web' awaited 'All of Us Strangers' and 'Bob Marley: One Love'.

Good news has become the norm for 'Poor Things', which achieved another sub-40% drop. If it declines steadily by 40% from now on, it will reach 415K admissions. If it also manages to win the Oscar Best Picture contest or manages to score multiple wins in other Oscar categories, then it is bound to see an uptick that will probably propel it to more than 430K admissions. In this case, it would probably beat 'Oppenheimer' and 'Murderess' to rank as 2023's second-biggest film behind 'Barbie' (466K admissions). Winning the yearly crown would however require a significant post-Oscar uptick that is sustained for at least 2-3 weekends.

Studio Ghibli & Miyazaki's 'The Boy and the Heron' never really took off and this weekend didn't change that as it scored the Top 10's worst drop, while Russian animated film 'Cats in the Museum' saw a small boost in admissions. Finally, 'The Beekeeper' reached its last milestone, after beating 'The Meg' (85.3K admissions), and now ranks as the biggest Statham-starring film since 2010, outside of the 'Fast & Furious' and 'Expendables' franchises.

This coming weekend, another crowd of films will enter the market, with the first two vying for the weekend crown:

Action thriller 'Land of Bad', starring Liam Hemsworth and Russell Crowe
Orland Bloom-starring action thriller 'Red Right Hand'
'The End We Start From', starring Jodie Comer and Benedict Cumberbatch
Japanese film and Oscar contender 'Perfect Days'
Argentinian film 'When Evil Lurks'

February 20

On 2/18/2024 at 5:41 AM, BoxOfficeManiac said:

I'm very interested to see what All of us Strangers and Madame Web will do. Do you know if All of us Strangers will be in limited number of theatres?

Yes, it was released in a limited number of theaters. Only 33 screens in total.

More tomorrow...

February 13

Weekend: February 8-11, 2024

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Anyone but You	13,131	–	71	–	13,131	1
2	Poor Things	12,653	-38.6%	75	-19	381,419	6
3	The Holdovers	9,962	-33.5%	66	-8	53,832	3
4	Коты Эрмитажа (Cats in the Museum) [Russian]	5,714	-31.9%	56	-13	25,133	3
5	Maya the Bee 3: The Golden Orb	5,410	–	80	–	5,410	1
6	君たちはどう生きるか (The Boy and the Heron) [Japanese]	4,917	-34.6%	37	+2	16,613	2
7	The Beekeeper	4,298	-22.9%	26	-4	82,659	5
8	Argylle	4,033	-57.2%	37	-35	17,985	2
9	Priscilla	3,884	–	42	–	3,884	1
10	Ferrari	2,857	-59.4%	18	-29	33,640	3

Sources: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-08-02-2024.html

https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-anything-but-cinema/

In a close photo finish, the long reign of 'Poor Things' finally came to an end, with the deathblow being delivered by a rom-com. Cumulative weekend admissions (86,392) sunk to new lows for 2024, but remain bigger than the same time last year. Nevertheless, the holdovers performed quite well, with most of them dropping less than 40%. Among them, 'Poor Things', which -we must bear in mind- might have not said its final word, since a Best Picture win next month could send it back to the top of the charts. The 400K-admission milestone is basically a foregone conclusion at this point and a total north of 420K admissions is not out of the question. As for the weekend's winner, 'Anyone but You' is bound to attract a lot of couples in the next few days due to Valentine's Day, but I don't expect it to become a sleeper hit. It won't be reaching 100K admissions for sure.

Family products 'The Holdovers', 'Cats in the Museum' and 'The Boy and the Heron' are enjoying strong legs, but the smallest drop of the Top 10 was achieved by Statham's 'The Beekeeper', which is days away from becoming the best Statham-starring film of the last decade, outside of the 'Fast & Furious' and the 'Expendables' franchises. It's final milestone is beating 2018's 'The Meg' (85,313 admissions). 'Priscilla' failed spectacularly, while 'Maya the Bee 3' was as weak as its predecessors. 'Argylle's' drop was really bad and this can only complement the film's disappointing debut to result in an overall abysmal performance. 'Ferrari' hasn't done much better either.

Next weekend, four new films are vying for the spot:

Marvel's latest superhero flick 'Madame Web'
Rom-com 'Beautiful Wedding'
Biographical drama 'Bob Marley: One Love'
Romantic fantasy 'All of Us Strangers'

February 6

Weekend: February 1-4, 2024

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Poor Things	20,624	-34.8%	94	-2	360,453	5
2	The Holdovers	14,976	-10.7%	74	18	38,010	2
3	Argylle	9,415	–	72	–	9,415	1
4	Коты Эрмитажа (Cats in the Museum) [Russian]	8,394	-12.2%	69	-2	18,764	2
5	君たちはどう生きるか (The Boy and the Heron) [Japanese]	7,513	–	35	–	7,513	1
6	Ferrari	7,038	-53.6%	47	-28	28,140	2
7	The Beekeeper	5,572	-27.7%	30	-10	75,739	4
8	The Bricklayer	2,949	-44.1%	18	-8	11,631	2
9	Migration	2,501	-21.3%	35	+1	61,351	9
10	Wish	2,355	-20.4%	33	-3	92,736	11

Sources: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-01-02-2024.html

https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-poor-things-got-stuck-at-the-top/

February 2024 debuted with a relatively soft weekend (98,841 admissions) that still managed to beat February 2023's first weekend by 38%. The top spot went to 'Poor Things' for a fifth consecutive time, meaning that 'Poor Things' joins an elite club of six films that have scored at least five first-place finishes (in the last 15 years - that is, in the period since weekend records have been available). The club also includes 'The Hangover', 'Joker', 'Man of God', 'Avatar: The Way of the Water' and 'Barbie'. All of them remained in the top spot for five weekends. 'Poor Things' remains on course for at least 410K admissions, although it is not clear yet if it can beat 2023's second and third biggest films, 'Murderess' or 'Oppenheimer'. Speaking of which, 'Murderess' dropped out of the Top 10, but has now reached 422,811 admissions. It sold slightly more than 5K admissions over the last 7 days and is less than 5K admissions away from topping 'Oppenheimer' (427,536 admissions), which now seems to be a virtually guaranteed outcome.

Newcomers failed miserably, but to be fair, not much could be expected (statistically speaking) of a female-led action film and a Japanese animated film. Hayao Miyazaki's 'The Boy and the Heron' is his first film released in Greece since 'Howl's Moving Castle' (released in October 2005). No information is available about the box office performance of his other films. On the other hand, 'Argylle' fared far worse than all comparable titles, including 'The Marvels' and 'Spy'.

The best hold among the Top 10 was achieved by a film called... 'The Holdovers' (oh the irony), followed by a trio of animated films: 'Cats in the Museum', 'Wish' and 'Migration'. The remaining holdovers ('Ferrari', 'The Beekeeper' and 'The Bricklayer') haven't really lived up to expectations.

Next weekend, four films will be released: animated film 'Maya the Bee 3: The Golden Orb', Elvis Presley-related biographical drama 'Priscilla', rom-com 'Anyone but You' which has arrived just in time for Valentine's Day and Zac Efron-starring biographical sports drama 'The Iron Claw'. Among these titles, I think 'Anyone but You' has the best chances at pushing 'Poor Things' out of the way.

January 29

Weekend: January 25-28, 2024

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Poor Things	31,616	-22.2%	96	-29	328,866	4
2	The Holdovers	16,773	–	56	–	16,773	1
3	Ferrari	15,164	–	75	–	15,164	1
4	Koty Ermitazha (Cats in the Museum) [Russian]	9,563	–	71	–	9,563	1
5	The Beekeeper	7,706	-46.0%	40	-13	65,557	3
6	The Bricklayer	5,277	–	26	–	5,277	1
7	Φόνισσα (Murderess) [GR]	3,498	-38.7%	26	-22	417,584	9
8	Migration	3,179	-11.4%	34	-6	58,473	8
9	Wonka	3,001	-12.3%	28	-2	100,700	7
10	Wish	2,960	-12.9%	36	-9	90,229	10

Sources: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-25-1-2024.html

https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-and-the-lanthimiad-goes-on/

Overall, 118,286 admissions were sold during the weekend, which is 40% higher than last year and an improvement over last weekend. Based on weekend admissions, January 2024 was 25% ahead January 2023. That is a significant improvement which bodes well for the year as a whole.

Undoubtedly, January's splendid results were mostly attributed to the success of 'Poor Things'. Predictably, the announcement of more than 10 Oscar nominations propelled the film to another first-place finish on the weekend chart. We've got another one-and-a-half months until the awards ceremony, so the film is bound to slow down significantly by then. Nevertheless, with 40% drops from now on, 'Poor Things' would earn at least 410K admissions. Even topping 2023 winner 'Barbie's' 465.9K-admission total is not out of the question at this point, although it would need sub-30% drops for several weekends to achieve this.

As for newcomers, while none of them were a match for Lanthimos's 'Poor Things', cumulatively they still managed to garner enough attention to boost weekend earnings above the previous weekend. Christmas comedy-drama 'The Holdovers' led the race, despite being released after the Christmas holiday period, but 'Ferrari' was hot on its heels. Animated film 'Cats in the Museum' finished in a distant fourth place on the weekend chart, while 'The Bricklayer' was the worst newcomer, mostly due to its limited release (only 26 screens). That was despite being filmed in Greece, which didn't seem to interest general audiences. It probably isn't a surprise though that nearly half of the film's admissions came from the city where it was filmed (Thessaloniki). Its per-screen average was also nothing exceptional or noteworthy.

Jason Statham-starring 'Beekeeper' had a bigger drop than last weekend, but nothing too bad. Other than the (far more successful) 'Fast & Furious' and the 'Expendables' franchises, 'Beekeeper' has overtaken a series of Statham action films released since 2010. It's got 2 more to beat: 2015's 'Spy' (76,006 admissions) and 2018's 'The Meg' (85,313 admissions). Unfortunately, the 100K-admission milestone is out of reach. 'Murderess' had another solid hold as it gets closer and closer to overtaking 'Oppenheimer', to become 2023's second biggest film. Thanks to its small drops and strong weekdays, weekly drops of 45% will suffice to beat the Nolan-directed WWII biopic's total (426.7K admissions). Finally, a trio of family films completed the Top 10, with impressive sub-15% drops: 'Migration' had the smallest drop among the Top 10, 'Wonka' crossed the 100K-admission milestone and 'Wish' is trying hard to get there.

Next weekend, spy action comedy 'Argylle' and Studio Ghibli's animated 'The Boy and the Heron' are pinned against each other. I am not convinced that either film could knock 'Poor Things' off its perch, but that also depends on how well 'Poor Things' holds.

January 22

Weekend: January 18-21, 2024

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions (by Sunday)	Week
1	Poor Things	40,534	-35.2%	125	+2	276,799	3
2	The Beekeeper	14,261	-41.6%	53	-14	50,323	2
3	Sound of Freedom	6,915	–	60	–	6,915	1
4	Φόνισσα (Murderess) [GR]	5,705	-39.5%	48	-11	410,322	8
5	Κουραμπιέδες στο χιόνι (Shortbread Made of Snow) [GR]	4,638	-42.1%	50	-19	163,077	5
6	Folk og røvere i Kardemomme by (Three Robbers and a Lion) [Norwegian]	4,280	–	54	–	4,280	1
7	One Life	4,017	–	30	–	4,017	1
8	Migration	3,590	-13.3%	40	-1	54,430	7
9	Wonka	3,423	-25.6%	30	-13	97,312	6
10	Wish	3,398	-14.2%	45	+7	87,201	9

Sources: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-18-1-2024.html

https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-poor-triumph/

We witnessed another strong January weekend with 111,096 admissions, which was 16.6% higher than last year. 'Poor Things' scored a hat trick and has now officially become the most commercially successful film for its Greek director, Yorgos Lanthimos. The film is now looking to capitalise on Oscar hype throughout the next month and a half, with Oscar nominations being announced tomorrow. It is almost guaranteed that 'Poor Things' will win a Best Picture nomination among others, but on the other hand, of the Greeks who would be persuaded to watch a film due to its receiving an Oscar Best Picture nominations, is there anyone who hasn't seen 'Poor Things' already? Has this demographic run out of members who haven't seen the movie yet or not? We'll find out soon enough. With 35% drops from now on, 'Poor Things' could reach 400K admissions by the end of its run.

All holdovers in the Top 10 had a pretty decent weekend. 'The Beekeeper' held well, but probably won't approach any significant milestones. 'Murderess' still poses a threat to 'Oppenheimer'. 'Shortbread Made of Snow' finally entered the 2023's Top 10. 'Wonka' will soon reach 100K admissions and 'Wish' could easily cross that milestone based on its current trajectory. As for newcomers, no film reached five-digit figures. Child-trafficking crime thriller 'Sound of Freedom' led the pack.

Next weekend, historical drama 'Ferrari' and action thriller 'The Bricklayer' will try to steal the top spot from 'Poor Things'. 'Ferrari' has a recognizable title and some well-known actors that could draw audiences. On the other hand, what 'The Bricklayer' lacks in acting talent, it can make up for thanks to having been filmed in Greece. We'll see if either generates enough business to maintain January's strong performance.

January 16

Weekend: January 11-14, 2024

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions (by Sunday)	Week
1	Poor Things	62,677	+21.7%	123	+14	206,719	2
2	The Beekeeper	24,428	–	67	–	24,428	1
3	Φόνισσα (Murderess) [GR]	9,425	-42.9%	59	-5	399,912	7
4	Κουραμπιέδες στο χιόνι (Shortbread Made of Snow) [GR]	8,005	-64.5%	69	-20	156,807	4
5	Wonka	4,599	-52.9%	43	-21	93,365	5
6	Migration	4,143	-31.3%	41	+3	50,379	6
7	Wish	3,961	-32.1%	38	-4	83,586	8
8	Καπετάν Μιχάλης [GR]	3,344	-71.2%	33	-34	81,052	4
9	Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom	3,275	-59.7%	19	-12	70,447	4
10	The Three Musketeers: Milady	3,198	–	32	–	3,198	1

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-lanthimos-the-saviour/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-11-1-2024.html

In what is turning out to be a very strong January, Greek audiences are showing up in droves to see Yorgos Lanthimos's latest film and Golden Globes winner 'Poor Things'. It has become the talk of the town and with Oscar nominations being announced next week, related chatter won't die down any time soon. The film not only increased its screen number but also its per screen average, leading to a 20% increase in admissions compared to last weekend. It is days away from becoming Lanthimos's most successful film in Greece, with the current record holder, 2019's 'The Favourite', having sold 225,203 admissions. In an unforeseeable twist of events, it has also become the fourth biggest film of 2023 (technically, its first day was December 26). It is only trailing a trio of films in the 400K-admission range ('Murderess', 'Oppenheimer' and 'Barbie'). At this point, it is hard to say whether it will reach such heights, but I have to admit it is not an unrealistic possibility.

Speaking of which, Greek novel adaptation 'Murderess' continues its ascent. It is now at the cusp of reaching 400K admissions and it needs to be dropping by less than 40% on average each weekend in order to have a chance at beating 'Oppenheimer', which is sitting at 2023's second place with 426,719 admissions. Among other Greek films, 'Shortbread Made of Snow' beat 'Mission Impossible 7' but got overtaken by 'Poor Things' and thus 2023's Top 10 list still eludes it. Nevertheless, it is a matter of days before it surpasses 'Indiana Jones 5' to finally enter the year's Top 10. Last and definitely least, Greek novel adaptation 'Captain Michalis' had the worst drop of the weekend's Top 10 and will conclude its mediocre run with less than 100K admissions.

The weekend's second place was occupied by the only successful newcomer, Jason Statham-starring 'The Beekeeper', which earned a decent 24K admissions. Its opening was higher than most other non-franchise Jason Statham action films of the last decade, including:

'The Mechanic' (2011): 14,196 admissions
'Killer Elite' (2011): 22,940 admissions
'Homefront' (2013): 12,875 admissions
'Spy' (2015): 17,927 admissions
'Mechanic: Resurrection' (2016): 13,400 admissions
'Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre' (2023): 14,172 admissions

Only 2018's 'The Meg' (26,080 admissions) opened slightly higher. It's probably unnecessary to mention that the Statham-starring 'Expendables' and 'Fast & Furious' franchises have had far more successful box office runs. Contrary to 'The Beekeeper', the other newcomer of the Top 10 was a complete dud – 'The Three Musketeers: Milady' opened to an abysmal 3K admissions, which was even worse than its predecessor, 'The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan', which opened to 5,417 admissions on the 2023 post-Easter weekend.

As for the remaining holdovers, 'Wonka' is still headed for the 100K-admission milestone, with 'Wish' still... wishing it might get there too, provided its late legs are strong enough. Finally, 'Migration' and 'Aquaman 2' will not be met with such luck, as they will certainly end their runs way below 100K admissions.

Overall, 145,033 admissions were sold over the weekend, which is 47% higher than last year and only 7.4% less than last weekend. Next weekend, four new films will fail to beat 'Poor Things', which will definitely remain in the lead: 'Queen Rock Montreal' is out for one weekend, documentary 'Sound of Freedom' could make a modest amount of cash, Pierce Brosnan-starring 'Fast Charlie' might reach second place and animated film 'Three Robbers and a Lion' probably won't be much of a success.

January 10

Weekend: January 4-7, 2024

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions (by Sunday)	Week
1	Poor Things	51,491	–	109	–	108,485	1
2	Κουραμπιέδες στο χιόνι (Shortbread Made of Snow) [GR]	22,528	+6.5%	89	-6	145,460	3
3	Φόνισσα (Murderess) [GR]	16,504	+1.5%	64	-19	383,439	6
4	Καπετάν Μιχάλης [GR]	11,611	-17.1%	67	-6	73,624	3
5	Wonka	9,754	-8.1%	64	-24	87,510	4
6	Night Swim	8,345	–	40	–	8,345	1
7	Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom	8,118	-30.6%	31	-65	64,333	3
8	Migration	6,034	+54.5%	38	-4	45,829	5
9	Wish	5,835	+35.4%	42	-1	79,509	7
10	The Zone of Interest	3,926	-5.4%	16	-6	29,260	4

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-from-weird-to-commercially-favourite/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-4-1-2024.html

The first weekend of 2024 rang up 156,650 admissions, which was the fourth-biggest post-pandemic weekend tally so far, trailing 2023 National Cinema Day weekend, 2022 National Cinema Day weekend and 2021's pre-Christmas weekend, when 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' opened. The weekend's success was a team effort of four Greek-directed films, topped by Lanthimos's 'Poor Things'. It has achieved the biggest opening weekend for director Yorgos Lanthimos. His most successful film, 'The Favourite', had a staggered release in 2019 (continuously expanding its screen count for four consecutive weekends) and therefore an apples-to-apples comparison cannot be made. On Sunday, 'Poor Things' won the Golden Globes award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, which is bound to invigorate the film's box office run, thanks to all the media attention it's getting.

The Greek-directed quartet is completed by last weekend's top three, which registered small increases/decreases compared to New Year's weekend. 'Shortbread Made of Snow' and 'Murderess' are definitely outperforming their expectations, while 'Captain Michalis' has been a middling success.

The only other newcomer in the Top 10 was 'Night Swim', which missed the Top 5 due to 'Wonka's' enduring run. The latter is nearing the 100K-admission milestone, a feat that neither 'Aquaman 2' nor 'Wish' will achieve. Animated flick 'Migration' recorded the biggest % increase of the weekend. Finally, interest in... 'Zone of Interest' is dying down, although an Oscar nom could change that.

Next weekend, three Hollywood films will join the bunch in a weekend poised to remain well above January 2023 levels: 'The Three Musketeers: Milady', 'The Beekeper', 'Dream Scenario'. Nevertheless, 'Poor Things' has got the best odds at winning the weekend crown.

January 8

2023 BOX-OFFICE ROUND-UP

The year sold 7,408,000 admissions. That is a 37% increase over 2022 and the best post-pandemic year so far. It still remains below the standard 9-10 million admissions sold per year during the 2010s, but it is a promising year-on-year improvement that tells us 2024 is in for another solid increase. 2024 needs a 21% increase to reach 9 million admissions, which seems doable. Here is 2023's Top 10 chart.

Ranking	Title	Admissions
1	Barbie	465,887
2	Oppenheimer	426,719
3	Φόνισσα (Murderess) [GR]	383,439
4	The Super Mario Bros. Movie	203,266
5	The Nun II	181,261
6	John Wick: Chapter 4	174,635
7	Fast X	169,248
8	A Haunting in Venice	166,491
9	Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny	162,951
10	Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One	154,688
11	Κουραμπιέδες από χιόνι (Shortbread Made of Snow) [GR]	145,460

The ones in italics are still playing in theaters as of January 7, 2024.

'Barbie' remains the undisputed winner, a global phenomenon that earned the bulk of its gargantuan Greek tally in the heart of the summer (late July to late August), a highly unusual feat since August tends to be the quietest month of the year when most Greeks are spending time away from work and enjoying the summer holidays on the beach. It came within breathing distance (only 5 admissions!!!) of 'Spider-Man: No Way Home', which still holds the title of biggest post-pandemic film. 'Oppenheimer' was another sensational hit which broke 'Inception's' record (421K admissions) as the biggest film directed by Christopher Nolan. It also beat 'Avatar 2' (423K admissions) to become the third-biggest post-pandemic film, just behind those mentioned above.

Greek novel adaptation 'Murderess' is having a very solid run and has good chances of eventually beating 'Oppenheimer' for the year's second place. It is the biggest post-pandemic Greek film, the fifth-biggest post-pandemic film overall and the fourth-biggest Greek film since 2010^, behind 'Worlds Apart' (669K admissions), 'Eftyhia' (668K admissions) and 'What If...' (531K admissions).

^2010 is the year that the catastrophic financial crisis began.

In fourth place, 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' bested 'Prince of Persia' to become the biggest video game adaptation ever and the first to reach the 200K-admission blockbuster milestone.

Video-game adaptations
Title	National OW	Release date	Total admissions	Multiple
The Super Mario Bros. Movie	44,811	Thu 6 Apr 23	203,266	4.54
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time	60,569	Thu 20 May 10	176,791	2.92
Assassin's Creed	53,502	Thu 5 Jan 17	133,185	2.49
Lara Croft: The Cradle of Life	43,000	Fri 3 Oct 03	120,000	2.79
Tomb Raider	40,350	Thu 15 Mar 18	119,231	2.95
Warcraft	36,787	Thu 9 Jun 16	96,591	2.63
Uncharted	27,143	Thu 17 Feb 22	96,538	3.56
Angry Birds	32,214	Thu 12 May 16	94,718	2.94
Sonic the Hedgehog 2	20,341	Thu 31 Mar 22	85,174	4.19
Five Nights at Freddy’s	47,487	Thu 26 Oct 23	81,967	1.73

'The Nun II' failed to reach the heights of 'The Nun', but remains the second-biggest film in the 'Conjuring' franchise. 'John Wick 4' is by far the most successful film of its franchise. 'Fast X' ended up in the lower half of the ten-part series. Hercule Poirot-starring 'A Haunting in Venice' did much better than 'Death on the Nile' but failed to reach the heights of 'Murder on the Orient Express'. 'Indiana Jones 5' reached a respectable total, but paled in comparison to 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull', which had earned 256.5K admissions back in 2008. 'Mission Impossible 7' performed slightly better than the fifth and sixth instalment of the franchise, but was a far cry from instalments 1-4.

A final note: the reason I included Greek family comedy drama 'Shortbread Made of Snow' on the list is that it is poised to beat 'Mission Impossible 7' and could probably end its run all the way up at fifth place, beating 'Nun's' 181K-admission total.

January 5

Weekend: December 28-31, 2023

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions (by Sunday)	New Year’s Day	Total admissions (by Wed, Jan 3)	Week
1	Κουραμπιέδες στο χιόνι (Shortbread Made of Snow) [GR]	21,155	+25.2%	95	-1	98,757	5,493	122,932	2
2	Φόνισσα (Murderess) [GR]	16,260	-18.5%	83	-21	350,289	2,974	366,849	5
3	Καπετάν Μιχάλης [GR]	13,999	-8.1%	73	-24	48,234	2,707	62,013	2
4	Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom	11,689	-29.1%	96	-2	44,727	2,907	56,215	2
5	Wonka	10,617	-24.8%	88	-39	67,967	2,009	77,756	3
6	Wish	4,308	-1.8%	43	-11	69,561	671	73,674	6
7	The Zone of Interest	4,148	+3.8%	22	+5	22,267	755	25,334	3
8	In the Land of Saints & Sinners	4,081	–	31	–	4,081	1,288	8,886	1
9	Migration	3,905	+14.6%	42	-10	35,088	892	39,788	4
10	Щелкунчик и волшебная флейта (The Nutcracker and the Magic Flute) [Russian]	3,076	-37.0%	54	-19	18,335	326	20,595	3

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-local-titles-dominated-new-years-eve/

It was a white New Year's weekend with Greek family pic 'Shortbread Made of Snow' dethroning Greek novel adaptation 'Murderess' from the top after a month of the latter's domination. Overall, the weekend sold 103,073 admissions, which was slightly less than Christmas weekend, but nevertheless the fifth weekend in a row to reach six figures. The streak is likely to continue next weekend. 'Shortbread Made of Snow' had the biggest % increase of the weekend and is aiming for a total north of 150K admissions. It needs 155K admission to become the second Greek film to enter 2023's Top 10. Meanwhile, 'Murderess' has its eyes on the 400K-admission milestone, making it only the third film of the year reach this tally. Time will tell whether it can beat 'Oppenheimer' for the year's second place, but the year's crown is safely in the hands of 'Barbie'. More details on the thread's first page.

A third Greek film completed the weekend's Top 3 – novel adaptation 'Captain Michalis'. It swapped places with 'Aquaman 2', which ranked third last weekend. The prior seems to be outpacing the latter, albeit by a thin margin. 'Captain Michalis' was clearly harmed by the presence of far more popular 'Murderess', as well as poor visual effects, while 'Aquaman 2' clearly had nothing new to offer compared to the original, especially in a year in which comic book films are suffering due to an abandonment of the formula that worked with their target audience. Moving to fifth and sixth place, 'Wonka' and 'Wish' are also in a tight race between themselves, with the prior likely to come out on top. 'Zone of Interest' is looking to build hype for the upcoming Oscar nominations (January 23) while the only newcomer of the weekend, Liam Neeson's action thriller 'In the Land of Saints & Sinners' opened to a disappointing 4K-admission tally. The Top 10 where completed by two lukewarm animated films for which there isn't much to say.

Finally, George Lanthimos's 'Poor Things', which had two days of previews last week (December 26 and 27) opened official on Monday, January 1st. Although, it can't rank anywhere on the weekend list, it ranked first on New Year's Day with 10,745 admissions and remained first on January 2nd and 3rd for a five-day total of 56,994 admissions. Clearly, Lanthimos has become a director that draws a lot of media attention in Greece and audiences are beginning to notice. 'Poor Things' will almost certainly win the upcoming weekend crown.

December 30, 2023

Weekend: December 21-24, 2023

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Christmas Day	Total admissions (by Dec 27)	Week
1	Φόνισσα (Murderess) [GR]	19,951	-47.0%	104	-17	4,275	334,029	4
2	Κουραμπιέδες στο χιόνι (Shortbread Made of Snow) [GR]	16,902	-15.4%	96	-9	7,116	77,602	2
3	Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom	16,495	–	98	–	4,053	33,038	1
4	Καπετάν Μιχάλης [GR]	15,238	–	97	–	3,863	34,235	1
5	Wonka	14,111	-32.5%	127	-54	2,767	57,350	2
6	Щелкунчик и волшебная флейта (The Nutcracker and the Magic Flute) [Russian]	4,884	-0.1%	73	+23	390	15,259	2
7	Wish	4,388	-5.8%	54	-7	509	65,253	5
8	The Zone of Interest	3,997	-37.7%	17	+3	1,054	18,119	2
9	Migration	3,407	-50.9%	52	-22	959	31,183	3
10	The Old Oak	1,775	-43.7%	18	0	607	15,553	3

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-fonissa-took-christmas-too/

https://flix.gr/articles/flixmas-2023-box-office-gr.html

With 108,441 admissions, the Christmas weekend solidified December's lead over December 2022 and thanks to the strong performance of this year's holiday period, 2023 has already sold 7.2 million admissions with one weekend still left to go, meaning that the final total will be north of 7.3 million admissions. That is about 35% higher than the year before – a very encouraging increase, which indicates that the box office has the potential to eventually return to pre-pandemic numbers (9-10 million admissions). Let's hope 2024 makes it there! In the meantime, 2023's Top 10 list can be found on the first page of this thread.

As for the weekend specifics, Greek novel adaptation 'Murderess' remained unchallenged at the top for a fourth weekend in a row. It exhibited its worst drop yet, with two contributing factors: firstly, that the weekend ended with Christmas Eve on a Sunday and secondly, the arrival of another adaptation of an old Greek novel, 'Captain Michalis'. Reaching 400K admissions seems like a foregone conclusion and beating 'Oppenheimer' for the year's second place is also doable. However, outgrossing 'Barbie' is another matter entirely. If it even happens, it will take many long weeks and probably no sooner than late February.

The weekend's films were split evenly in two groups: the Top 5 competed closely earning between 14K and 20K admissions and the bottom 5 earned less than 5K admissions each. Greek comedy drama 'Shortbread Made of Snow' finished in second place with newcomer 'Aquaman 2' hot on its heels. The prior is enjoying a solid run, outpacing 'Wonka', which had beaten it by razor-thin margin last weekend, and hoping for a total that approaches 150K admissions. Speaking of 'Wonka', the most it can achieve seems to be crossing the 100K-admission milestone. My commentary on the Top 5 thus concludes with the two newcomers, 'Aquaman 2' and Greek novel adaptation 'Captain Michalis'. The prior was a spectacular failure, earning less than a third of the original 'Aquaman's' opening. I doubt the remainder of the holiday period will help it save face. A total less than 100K admissions is pretty much guaranteed. The latter also failed to make any sizeable dent in the box office, although based on my analysis of the film's potential (which I wrote about last weekend), I can't say I'm surprised.

Moving to the bottom 5, Russian animated film 'The Nutcracker and the Magic Flute' and Disney's 'Wish' held very well, while 'Migration' dropped precipitously. Only 'Wish' has any chances of reaching 100K admissions. Finally, 'The Zone of Interest' and 'The Old Oak' in eighth and tenth place respectively, also dropped significantly despite retaining all their screens.

New Year's weekend sees the arrival of Liam Neeson's 'In the Land of Saints & Sinners', as well as a Norwegian animated film and Yorgos Lanthimos's 'Poor Things' (had previews on December 26 and 27; opens wide on January 1). Pre-pandemic non-Taken Liam Neeson action thrillers sold 80-100K admissions in total, give or take. Lanthimos has made some notable arthouse films over the years ('Dogtooth', 'Lobster'), with only one of them becoming a box office hit, 2019's 'The Favourite' (225K admissions). 'Poor Things' managed to make 16,860 admissions during its two days of previews, but it remains to be seen if this will translate into a blockbuster-size performance.

December 20, 2023

Weekend: December 14-17, 2023

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Φόνισσα (Murderess) [GR]	37,616	-43.1%	121	-31	268,098	3
2	Wonka	20,901	–	181	–	20,901	1
3	Κουραμπιέδες στο χιόνι (Shortbread Made of Snow) [GR]	19,984	–	105	–	19,984	1
4	Migration	6,939	-46.2%	74	-23	21,772	2
5	The Zone of Interest	6,414	–	14	–	6,414	1
6	Щелкунчик и волшебная флейта (The Nutcracker and the Magic Flute) [Russian]	4,888	–	50	–	4,888	1
7	Wish	4,657	-52.7%	61	-38	56,326	4
8	Napoleon	4,017	-60.4%	22	-40	107,097	4
9	Thanksgiving	3,699	-52.6%	21	-48	16,068	2
10	The Old Oak	3,153	-32.7%	18	-8	10,281	2

Sources: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-14-12-2023.html

https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-fonissa-remains-at-number-one-but-with-losses/

The December box office registered another busy weekend with 126,536 admissions, a number that is 37% ahead of the same time last year. The feat was achieved thanks to a trio of solid performances. In first place, Greek novel adaptation 'Murderess' threepeated with a slightly bigger-than-expected drop. Crossing the 300K-admission milestone is a foregone conclusion and it is poised for a lengthy run throughout the two-week Christmas holiday period. The only film standing in its way is another upcoming Greek novel adaptation, 'Captain Michalis', discussed further down.

In second and third place, a pair of family friendly flicks debuted within breathing distance of each other with a solid 20K-admission total or so. 'Wonka' came out on top, but depending on word-of-mouth, 'Shortbread Made of Snow' could beat it in the long run. World War II historical drama 'The Zone of Interest' drew a lot of attention despite its limited release, so we may see a wide release in January, once Oscar nominations are announced. Nothing particularly notable happened with regard to the rest of the Top 10.

As for next weekend, three films will be released. 'Captain Michalis' is based on the homonymous 1953 novel written by Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis. It has been translated into more than 20 languages (known as 'Freedom or Death' in English) and has sold more copies worldwide than any other of Kazantzakis's books. Based on the above, it has the potential to be a major success. Two issues that could tamper with this potential are its mediocre, poorly constructed visual effects and the fact that it is not very well known among younger generations (not as well as 'Murderess'). The other two films to be released next weekend are 'Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom', which doesn't need introducing, and Canadian animated film 'Katak: The Brave Beluga'. 'Captain Michalis' and 'Aquaman 2' will be competing for first place, but it is difficult to say which one will come on top. I'm putting my money on the latter, since it seems to be playing on significantly more screens.

December 14, 2023

Weekend: December 7-10, 2023

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Φόνισσα (Murderess) [GR]	66,101	-15.2%	152	+8	194,355	2
2	Migration	12,896	–	97	–	12,896	1
3	Napoleon	10,151	-49.3%	62	-40	99,177	3
4	Wish	9,845	-43.0%	99	-22	50,369	3
5	Thanksgiving	7,799	–	69	–	7,799	1
6	The Old Oak	4,682	–	26	–	4,682	1
7	Kuolleet lehdet [Finnish–German]	4,397	-25.2%	11	+1	12,621	2
8	The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes	2,688	-39.1%	20	-8	51,207	4
9	Trolls Band Together	2,523	-36.3%	42	-18	76,116	6
10	PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie	677	-41.6%	13	-7	72,609	8

Sources: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-07-12-2023.html

https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-fonissa-has-staying-power/

'Murderess' extended its unchallenged dominance of the market with a minor drop in admissions. It is already on the cusp of the 200K-admission blockbuster milestone. It will undoubtedly beat 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' (200,573 admissions) to become the third-biggest film of the year. Whether it can also overtake 'Oppenheimer' and 'Barbie' is a question that remains unanswered. The updated yearly chart can be viewed here. Weekly drops of 32% or less are required to top 'Barbie'. Doable but in no way guaranteed. Overall, the yearly box office added 124,671 admissions last weekend (more than half of which came from 'Murderess'), a number that will most likely stay in the six-digit range throughout the holiday period.

In a distant second came animated film 'Migration', upsetting Disney's 'Wish' in the process, the latter which had to settle for fourth place. 'Napoleon' failed to recover from its fairly steep decline. Other newcomers and holdovers were found lacking as well.

Next weekend, two new family entries will compete for a chunk of the box office pie: 'Wonka' from Warner Bros. and Greek Christmas-themed comedy drama 'Κουραμπιέδες από χιόνι' (loosely translated as 'Shortbread Made of Snow'). Neither will knock 'Murderess' off its perch, but they have the potential to contribute to another strong weekend for the box office.

December 11, 2023

Weekend: November 30-December 3, 2023

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Φόνισσα (Murderess) [GR]	77,982	–	144	–	77,982	1
2	Napoleon	20,038	-53.4%	102	-49	81,760	2
3	Wish	17,265	-8.1%	121	-9	38,873	2
4	Kuolleet lehdet [Finnish–German]	5,880	–	10	–	5,880	1
5	The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes	4,411	-41.6%	28	-21	46,309	3
6	Silent Night	4,055	–	28	–	4,055	1
7	Trolls Band Together	3,963	-18.1%	60	-18	73,044	5
8	All Fun and Games	2,223	–	17	–	2,223	1
9	PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie	1,159	-28.6%	20	-6	71,907	7
10	Talk to Me	982	-59.8%	7	-8	42,802	5

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-she-killed-them-all/

https://freecinema.gr/fonissa-is-what-the-greek-market-needed/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-30-11-2023.html

The box office doldrums are finally over with an impressive performance by Greek novel adaptation 'Murderess'. The film scored the biggest post-pandemic opening for a Greek film (beating 'Man of God'), the second biggest opening of 2023 (behind 'Oppenheimer') and the fifth-biggest post-pandemic opening over all (the others being 'Spider-Man: No Way Home', 'Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness' and 'No Time to Die'). As I suspected last week, the older generations, who are familiar with the book, were looking for a traditional nostalgia-inducing story and thus turned out in droves to watch the big-screen version. However, it seems that many from the above demographic didn't pay attention to the heavily-marketed feminist angle that the filmmakers gave to the story. Given the above, I also suspect the film is riding the 'Barbie' wave, with many Greek feminists attending in search of the next high-profile film that affirms their worldview.

'Napoleon' stumbled – likely due to lukewarm word-of-mouth – and probably won't make it into the Year's Top 10, while the other wide release from last weekend, Disney's animated 'Wish', had a minuscule drop that gives it hope for a fairly long run throughout the holidays, similar to many other Disney animated films. Among other holdovers, animated films and the 'Hunger Games' prequel had pretty good holds.

Thanks to 'Murderess', weekend admissions saw a spectacular rise to 142,654. There are high chances they'll remain in the six-digit range throughout the holiday period.

November 29, 2023

Weekend: November 23-26, 2023

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Napoleon	42,992	–	151	–	42,992	1
2	Wish	18,784	–	130	–	18,784	1
3	The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes	7,547	-62.8%	49	-54	37,518	2
4	Trolls Band Together	4,841	-67.3%	78	-30	68,708	4
5	Talk to Me	2,445	-48.7%	15	-13	40,361	4
6	Killers of the Flower Moon	1,766	-62.1%	19	-11	114,280	6
7	PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie	1,623	-57.3%	26	-20	70,691	6
8	The Marvels	1,604	-78.8%	16	-56	32,211	3
9	Monster	1,404	-48.8%	13	+1	5,338	2
10	Desperation Road	1,235	–	23	–	1,235	1

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-napoleon-the-conqueror/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-23-11-2023.html

This past weekend Sony's 'Napoleon' topped the box office, while registering the 10th biggest opening of the year. It was far from Joaquin Phoenix's or Ridley Scott's most successful film, but it was nevertheless a solid debut for this historical drama. Undoubtedly, the instantly recognizable titular character was reason enough for many people to give the film a go. The good news ends here though. Disney's 'Wish' was the latest animated film in a streak of big disappointments for the Mouse House. Its strategy clearly isn't working and needs urgent redirection. No doubt affected by the arrival of the French emperor, the 'Hunger Games' prequel displayed a pretty sharp sophomore drop and even a total of 50K admissions now seems to be in question. 'Trolls 3' was hit by an even worse fate with a 67% drop, likely thanks to the arrival of 'Wish'. Any hopes that 'The Marvels' would hold well vanished this weekend, since it lost 78% of its screens and saw its admissions drop by a similar percentage. By the looks if it, the film won't even make it to 40K admissions. It has broken one record though: the record for the worst performance among MCU films.

Overall, a total of 92,455 admissions were sold in theaters last weekend, which was far better than the 50,690 admissions sold during the same weekend last year. The admissions sold during 2023's first 11 months are 28% more than those sold during the first 11 months of 2022. If 2023 continues at this pace, it will finish with 6.9 million admissions.

Next week, two Hollywood films ('All Fun and Games' and 'Silent Night') and a Greek production ('Murderess') aim to make a dent in the box office. The latter is based on a 1903 historical novel that used to be widely read in Greek high schools and therefore has widespread recognizability among older age groups (more than 30 years old).

November 24, 2023

Weekend: November 16-19, 2023

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes	20,298	–	103	–	20,298	1
2	Trolls Band Together	14,806	-24.8%	108	-1	62,555	3
3	The Marvels	7,560	-53.7%	72	-39	29,784	2
4	May December	7,155	–	43	–	7,155	1
5	Talk to Me	4,770	-30.5%	28	-16	35,445	3
6	Killers of the Flower Moon	4,661	-27.6%	30	-16	110,686	5
7	PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie	3,797	-10.1%	46	+1	68,821	5
8	Le Petit Nicolas : Qu'est-ce qu'on attend pour être heureux ? [French]	3,394	-14.3%	56	-19	7,623	2
9	Monster	2,743	–	12	–	2,743	1
10	Five Nights at Freddy's	2,647	-51.8%	26	-21	81,031	4

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-hunger-at-the-cash-register/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-16-11-2023.html

There didn't seem to be much... hunger among Greek audiences for the prequel to the 'Hunger Games' franchise. It registered the worst opening for the franchise. Nevertheless, the generalised box office draught allowed it to win the weekend crown, dethroning two-time winner 'Trolls 3'. 'The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes', essentially an important chapter in President Snow's backstory, isn't in a very lucky position, since 'Napoleon' debuts this weekend. Here is chart of how the previous films of the franchise have performed:

Hunger Games series
Title	Opening weekend	Release date	Total	Multiple
The Hunger Games	26,574	Thu 22 Mar 12	89,087	3.35
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire	32,566*	Thu 28 Nov 13	100,742	3.09
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1	45,608	Thu 20 Nov 14	128,094	2.81
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2	43,444	Thu 26 Nov 15	122,445	2.82
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes	20,298	Thu 16 Nov 23	20,298	–

*Its opening reached 38,829 admissions when including previews

'Trolls 3' continues to follow a slightly weaker trajectory than the original 'Trolls' film (I remind you that 'Trolls 2' was release a few months after the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and sold very few admissions). Ultimately the threequel seems to be headed for a total around 90K admissions. Curiously, 'The Marvels' did not drop hard on its second weekend: most MCU films drop around 60% on their sophomore frame. However, its drop was worse than 'Captain Marvel' (-46.3%). In order to avoid the title of the worst-performing MCU film, it needs to beat 'Ant-Man's' 47,985-admission total. As for the rest of the holdovers, they had quite decent weekend-to-weekend holds, although their absolute number of admissions is not really worth our time. Among DiCaprio-led films, 'Killers of the Flower Moon' has beaten 'Revolutionary Road' and is days away from beating 'Aviator'. It could also beat 'Body of Lies' (121K admissions), but won't get much farther than that. Among 2023 films, it needs to beat 'The Whale' (124K admissions) to reach the Top 10, but even then it will almost certainly be overtaken by films released during the upcoming holiday season.

Overall, 87,632 admissions were sold over the past weekend, which is 24% better than the same time last year. This weekend, three films will team up with the aim to bring the weekend total above 100K admissions: Ridley Scott's 'Napoleon', Disney's 'Wish' and 'Desperation Road', an action thriller starring Garrett Hedlund and Mel Gibson.

Sign In

Profiles

Forums

Events

Blogs

Gallery

Annual Subscriptions

Media Demo

Posts posted by Quigley

Important Information