GREECE: 'Kung Fu Panda 4' punches through competition for 4th time in a row

[Quigley]

Weekend: January 13-16, 2022

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Scream	20,697	–	74	–	20,697	1
2	Σμύρνη μου αγαπημένη (My Beloved Smyrna) [GR]	17,993	-31.4%	100	-21	156,017	4
3	Spider-Man: No Way Home	12,631	-42.4%	81	0	420,591	5
4	Sing 2	4,865	-45.8%	71	-17	76,063	5
5	Licorice Pizza	2,871	-20.9%	32	+6	8,115	2
6	The King’s Man	2,081	-63.9%	24	-36	10,674	2
7	Extinct	2,070	–	70	–	2,070	1
8	The 355	2,061	–	34	–	2,061	1
9	Encanto	1,684	-20.8%	25	-7	51,075	8
10	The Matrix Resurrections	1,560	-61.8%	18	-29	44,378	4

 

Sources: https://www.grandmagazine.gr/el/article/6397/box-office-i-smurni-pernaei-mprosta

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-13-01-2021.html

https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-smyrnas-time-for-the-top-spot/

 

The fifth 'Scream' film achieved the biggest opening for the 25-year-old franchise, beating previous record-holder 'Scream 4' which opened to 19,879 admissions in April 2011 and completed its run with 59,866 admissions. However, the biggest total for the franchise was achieved by 'Scream 3', which sold 72,435 admissions in 2000. 'Scream' was the only newcomer worth mentioning. As for holdovers, Greek historical drama 'My Beloved Smyrna' scored another sweet drop of only 31% and has now surpassed 150K admissions. The 200K-admission milestone is doable but not guaranteed. Either way, it will complete its run as the 4th biggest film of 2021 and the second biggest Greek film behind 'Man of God'.

 

'No Way Home' has further cemented its place as the third-biggest comic-book of all time as it nears 450K admissions. It is now officially confirmed that it is the biggest Spider-Man film ever, ahead of 'Spider-Man 2' (387,476 admissions). 'Sing 2' opened 26% lower than the original, but will finish with a total that is less than 50% of the original. It is still the biggest animated film of the holiday season, but it is a Pyrrhic victory. Holdovers were otherwise unimpressive. Total admissions for the weekend were slightly down from last weekend, at 72,093. It is better than last year, when cinemas were completely closed til May, but it is not a good number either. Unfortunately, it seems to be the new normal... 

[Quigley]

The TOP 10 for 2021
Rank	Title	Admissions
1	Spider-Man: No Way Home	*420,591
2	No Time to Die	311,675
3	Άνθρωπος του Θεού (Man of God) [GR]	283,073
4	Σμύρνη μου αγαπημένη (My Beloved Smyrna) [GR]	*156,017
5	Luca	139,999
6	Dune	113,553
7	House of Gucci	*95,648
8	Venom: Let There Be Carnage	88,989
9	The Father	83,458
10	Eternals	82,206

 

*These three films are still playing in cinemas

Edited January 18, 2022 by Quigley

[Quigley]

Weekend: January 20-23, 2022

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Nightmare Alley	12,177	–	93	–	12,177	1
2	Σμύρνη μου αγαπημένη (My Beloved Smyrna) [GR]	10,734	-40.3%	86	-14	175,888	5
3	Scream	10,285	-50.3%	74	0	40,435	2
4	Spider-Man: No Way Home	8,429	-33.3%	63	-18	433,874	6
5	Sing 2	4,440	-8.7%	70	-1	81,046	6
6	Encanto	1,856	+10.2%	28	3	52,952	9
7	Licorice Pizza	1,412	-50.8%	21	-11	10,993	3
8	Extinct	1,376	-33.5%	56	-14	3,657	2
9	The Black Bachelor [GR]	1,059	-27.5%	6	-1	49,905	7
10	The King’s Man	853	-59.0%	11	-13	12,498	3

 

Sources: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-20-january-2021.html

https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-nightmare-market/

https://www.grandmagazine.gr/el/article/6419/box-office-nightmare-weekend-h-to-monopati-tis-apoleias-8eaton

 

The January box office is slowing down as the holiday releases are wrapping up their runs. Only 55,119 admissions were sold in cineams last weekend. The only new release to enter the Top 10 was another thriller film, this time by Guillermo del Toro. Meanwhile, holdovers didn't do too bad. 'Encanto' and 'Sing 2', being animated films, had the best holds, followed by Greek fourquel 'The Black Bachelor' and 'No Way Home'. The latter is by the way on course to cross the 450K-admission milestone. If so, it will manage to beat, among others, 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' (446K admissions) and it will be only the fifth Hollywood to reach this milestone in the last 10 years. Not bad at all! Greek film 'My Beloved Smyrna' could be headed for 200K admissions, which was the pre-pandemic arbitrary milestone for blockbusters. Again, not bad at all, although expectations had been slightly higher for this historical drama.

 

Weekend: January 27-30, 2022

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Nightmare Alley	9,175	-24.7%	82	-11	24,405	2
2	Σμύρνη μου αγαπημένη (My Beloved Smyrna) [GR]	8,706	-18.9%	75	-11	187,193	6
3	Spider-Man: No Way Home	7,107	-15.7%	66	+3	442,572	7
4	Scream	6,296	-38.8%	55	-19	49,429	3
5	Sing 2	5,211	+17.4%	69	-1	86,753	7
6	Belfast	4,560	–	55	–	4,560	1
7	Encanto	2,482	+33.7%	32	+4	55,440	10
8	Extinct	1,405	+2.1%	40	-16	5,136	3
9	The Black Bachelor [GR]	1,108	+4.6%	6	0	51,176	8
10	Licorice Pizza	984	-30.3%	16	-5	12,213	4

 

Source: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-27-january-2022.html

 

This weekend saw an even lower attendance (49,294 admissions) than the last one, in the aftermath of one of the worst blizzards to hit the nation's capital on Monday. Things were still recovering on Thursday, with some people stuck in their homes or at their workplaces for three days. Despite this, we saw very small drops and several increases across the board. 'Encanto' and 'Sing 2' once again boasted the best increases. The latter is definitely headed for the 100K-admission milestone. Double that amount is the aim of Greek historical drama 'My Beloved Smyrna', while 'No Way Home' while easily cruise past 450K admissions in the next few days. 'Scream' will be the first 2022 film to reach 50K admissions. Thanks to the prolonged lockdown of winter and spring 2021, the 50K-admission milestone was first achieved in 2021 in July! Clearly 2022 is already at a better place. The only opener to crack the Top 10 was 'Belfast', with a modest opening.

 

Next weekend sees the release of Roland Emmerich's umpteenth disaster film, called 'Moonfall'. I doubt it will reach the dizzying heights of '2012', which still holds the fifth biggest opening of all time in Greece with 184,475 admissions from November 2009. In fact, 20K admissions are more than I expect, unfortunately.

Edited February 1, 2022 by Quigley

[Quigley]

Weekend: February 3-6, 2022

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Σμύρνη μου αγαπημένη (My Beloved Smyrna) [GR]	7,145	-17.9%	71	-4	198,624	7
2	Moonfall	5,986	–	71	–	5,986	1
3	Nightmare Alley	5,466	-40.4%	51	-31	34,394	3
4	Spider-Man: No Way Home	5,419	-23.8%	47	-19	450,375	8
5	Sing 2	4,449	-14.6%	55	-14	91,558	8
6	Monster Family 2	3,939	–	85	–	3,939	1
7	Belfast	3,823	-16.2%	64	9	10,638	2
8	Scream	3,211	-49.0%	38	-17	55,622	4
9	Encanto	2,260	-8.9%	28	-4	57,704	11
10	Licorice Pizza	888	-9.8%	13	-3	13,624	5

 

Sources: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-3-february-2022.html

https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-a-series-of-disastrous-events/

 

The box office doldrums continued with only 45,549 admissions sold this weekend. Such low numbers haven't been seen since late September last year. The situtation is so bad that Greek historical drama 'My Beloved Smyrna' managed to regain the top spot for only the second time during its 7-week run. It is now days away from the 200K-admission milestone and has so far achieved as 6.9x multiplier. Roland Emmerich's 'Moonfall' was as unappealing as expected and the some, as it had to settle for an opening as low as the 'King's Man' and less than half 'Nightmare Alley'. Speaking of which, it dropped to third place with a 40% drop that doesn't seem to bad until you realise it was the second worst of the Top 10, only ahead of 'Scream'. The fivequel remains the most successful film of 2022 so far. The only other opener to reach the Top 10 is animated film 'Monster Family 2', whose opening is smaller than 'Sing 2's' 8th weekend. The latter is well on its way to 100K admissions and will only be the second 2021 animated film to achieve this after 'Luca'. Disney's 'Encanto', on the other hand, score the best hold of the Top 10, but it was behind 'Sing 2'. It has nevertheless scored 11 weekends in the Top 10. As for other holdovers, 'Spider-Man's latest outing has finally reached the 450K-admission milestone as originally predicted. Last (and probably least), 'Belfast' and 'Licorice Pizza' both scored very good holds, although their totals are far from notable. Tomorrow's Oscar nominations could help boost their earnings in the coming weeks.

 

Next weekend sees the release of 'Death on the Nile', an adaptation of a Hercule Poirot book from the same team that brought 'Murder on the Orient Express' to the big screen in 2017. That film actually became the top grossing film in Greece during 2017, therefore we would expect 'Death on the Nile' to also garner significant interest. Next weekend will also effectively be Valentine's weekend (even though the day itself is on Monday), which makes it great timing for 'Marry Me', a rom-com starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson.

Edited February 7, 2022 by Quigley

[Quigley]

Not that Oscars matter to anyone anymore, but here are the admission tallies in Greece for the Best Picture nominees announced yesterday:

 

Oscar Films 2021
Title	Total admissions
Dune	113,553
Nightmare Alley*	34,394
Licorice Pizza*	13,624
Belfast*	10,638
West Side Story	7,071
The Power of the Dog**	2,442
Don’t Look Up	Netflix does not release box office info
CODA	Not released yet
Drive My Car	Not released yet
King Richard	Not released yet

 

*Still in cinemas as of February 6, 2022

**No further info after first weekend

[Quigley]

Weekend: February 10-13, 2022

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Death on the Nile	29,698	–	124	–	29,698	1
2	Marry Me	7,273	–	69	–	7,273	1
3	Sing 2	4,775	+7.3%	52	-3	96,812	9
4	Σμύρνη μου αγαπημένη (My Beloved Smyrna) [GR]	4,296	-39.9%	41	-30	206,817	8
5	Spider-Man: No Way Home	3,674	-32.2%	25	-22	455,822	9
6	Monster Family 2	2,896	-26.5%	67	-18	7,311	2
7	Encanto	2,515	+11.3%	28	0	60,220	12
8	Belfast	1,914	-49.9%	26	-38	14,435	3
9	Nightmare Alley	1,750	-68.0%	20	-31	38,959	4
10	Moonfall	1,362	-77.2%	17	-54	9,636	2

 

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-murder-outside-the-cinemas/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-10-02-2022.html

 

With the biggest 2022 opening so far, but still nowhere near the 70K-admission debut of its predecessor, 'Death on the Nile' scored a positive note on this pre-Valentine weekend within a generally underwhelming winter season. It remains to be seen whether it can achieve similar word-of-mouth to Poirot's previous outing, but I believe it will nevertheless cross the 100K-admission milestone. 'Marry Me' fared far worse, although it's possible that tomorrow will boost it slightly.

 

As for holdovers, animated films 'Encanto', 'Sing 2' and 'Monster Family 2' once again scored the best holds of the Top 10. 'Sing 2' has clearly been the most successful commercially and is approaching 100K admissions, which is still far less than the 190K admissions of its predecessor. Blockbusters 'My Beloved Smyrna' and 'No Way Home' continue to teeter along with no further milestones left to cross. Meanwhile, Oscar nominees 'Belfast' and 'Nightmare Alley' had horrendous drops which make one wonder if these nominations have any bearing whatsoever on Greek moviegoing habits. Finally, Roland Emmerich's 'Moonfall' had the most precipitous drop of the bunch, in its second week, and will soon disappear into oblivion.

 

'Death on the Nile' helped lift this weekend to 64,420 admissions and next weekend is looking to be even bigger, with 'Uncharted' hoping to ride on the recent boost in Tom Holland's popularity following 'No Way Home'. I'm gonna predict an opening for 'Uncharted' around 30-35K admissions, while 'Wrath of Man' will open to less 20K and 'King Richard' will open below 10K.

Edited February 14, 2022 by Quigley

[Quigley]

Weekend: February 17-20, 2022

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Uncharted	27,143	–	86	–	27,143	1
2	Death on the Nile	16,255	-45.3%	101	-23	61,551	2
3	Wrath of Man	5,763	–	39	–	5,763	1
4	Sing 2	3,454	-27.7%	49	-3	100,809	10
5	Marry Me	2,833	-61.0%	39	-30	14,823	2
6	Σμύρνη μου αγαπημένη (My Beloved Smyrna) [GR]	2,786	-35.1%	31	-10	211,947	9
7	Encanto	2,412	-4.1%	31	+3	62,636	13
8	Spider-Man: No Way Home	2,313	-37.0%	23	-2	459,181	10
9	King Richard	2,182	–	30	–	2,182	1
10	Monster Family 2	1,862	-35.7%	59	-8	9,311	3

 

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-we-re-in-uncharted-territory/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-17-2-2022.html

 

'Uncharted' predictably topped the box office although its opening was not as high as was hoped. It opened lower than last week's #1 film 'Death on the Nile', which saw a higher than usual sophomore drop. It was nevertheless not as bad as 'Marry Me's' understandably hard drop post-Valentine's. 'Wrath of Man' received a long-delayed debut, which was quite underwhelming. On the other hand, not many would go to the cinema for a film they can probably stream on their TV or get an HD pirated version online. 'Encanto' and 'Sing 2' once again had the smallest drops of the bunch. The latter finally crossed the 100K-admission milestone, becoming only the seventh 2021 film overall and the second 2021 animated film to do so, the other being Pixar's 'Luca'. 'My Beloved Smyrna' and 'No Way Home' continued their slow decline, both having reached their coveted milestones and now just cashing in some extra change. The third and final opener to reach the Top 10, 'King Richard', tanked despite receiving a Oscar nomination for Best Picture.

 

This coming weekend brings Liam Neeson's latest action thriller, 'Blacklight', to the big screen. My prediction is an opening between 16-20K admissions. It could end up being a tight three-way race for first place ('Blacklight' vs 'Uncharted' vs 'Death on the Nile'). Further releases include animated 'Rock Dog 2' and some arthouse productions.

Edited February 24, 2022 by Quigley

[Quigley]

Weekend: February 24-27, 2022

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Uncharted	17,544	-35.4%	98	+12	55,757	2
2	Death on the Nile	8,458	-48.0%	71	-30	77,520	3
3	Blacklight	5,090	–	68	–	5,090	1
4	Sing 2	3,285	-4.9%	42	-7	104,432	11
5	Rock Dog 2: Rock Around the Park	3,020	–	78	–	3,020	1
6	Wrath of Man	3,012	-47.7%	27	-12	11,915	2
7	Encanto	2,610	+8.2%	32	+1	65,418	14
8	Σμύρνη μου αγαπημένη (My Beloved Smyrna) [GR]	2,554	-8.3%	34	+3	216,165	10
9	Spider-Man: No Way Home	2,041	-11.8%	17	-6	461,916	11
10	Marry Me	1,247	-56.0%	27	-22	17,343	3

 

Source: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-24-02-2022.html

 

The weekend's Top 3 was far from a photo finish. Although we knew which three titles were going to occupy these spots, the individual performance of each was totally unexpected. 'Uncharted' retained the top spot thanks to a small expansion and undoubtedly positive word of mouth, whereas Hercule Poirot's latest outing, 'Death on the Nile' saw another sharp drop. The clear loser though was Liam Neeson's 'Blacklight' which scored an opening only slightly better than last year's 'The Ice Road' and was the third worst opening for Neeson overall.

 

Liam Neeson action films
Title	Athens OW	National OW	Release date	Total admissions	Notes
Taken 3	28,114	50,780	Thu 15 Jan 15	174,600
The Grey	21,436	29,671	Thu 23 Feb 12	88,059
Taken 2	19,167	27,056	Thu 11 Oct 12	126,370	Previews: 3,311 (Athens), 4,615 (nationwide)
The Commuter	16,454	26,296	Thu 11 Jan 18	96,668
Unknown	19,329	25,260	Thu 24 Mar 11	87,958
Cold Pursuit	–	23,244	Thu 7 Feb 19	76,086
A Walk Among the Tombstones	14,971	23,027	Thu 25 Dec 14	79,652
Non-Stop	12,121	15,954	Thu 27 Feb 14	62,885	Previews: 6,903 (Athens), 9,358 (nationwide)
Taken	11,331	12,453	Thu 18 Jun 09	~30,000
Blacklight	–	5,090	Thu 24 Feb 22
The Ice Road	–	3,643	Thu 23 Sep 21	8,203
Run All Night	1,966	2,986	Sun 12 Apr 15	64,913	Opened on Easter Sunday

 

As for holdovers, 'Encanto' and 'Sing' once again scored the best holds of the bunch. Could the latter break into 2021's Top 10? It would need to top 'Father's' 83.5K-admission total, which would require several more weeks of strong legs. That is unlikely to materialise as Pixar's 'Turning Red' will hit the market in two weeks. 'My Beloved Smyrna' and 'No Way Home' are also experiencing some good late legs, solidifying their blockbuster status even further. On the other hand, 'Wrath of Man' and 'Marry Me' continued their embarrassing race to the bottom.

 

'Batman' prepares to make its mark on the box office next week and it looks like the sky is the limit. Could it break the superhero opening-weekend record held by Raimi's 'Spider-Man 3' (158,971 admissions)? Although possible, I see it opening somewhere around 120-130K admissions. The aim is to beat 'Batman v Superman's' 122,428-admission opening.

Edited February 28, 2022 by Quigley

[Quigley]

Weekend: March 3-6, 2022

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions by Sunday	Monday admissions	Week
1	The Batman	74,001	–	175	–	74,001	11,946	1
2	Uncharted	9,241	-47.3%	49	-49	72,036	1,327	3
3	Death on the Nile	4,214	-50.2%	27	-44	86,166	814	4
4	Sing 2	4,124	+25.5%	47	+5	108,912	571	12
5	Encanto	3,582	+37.2%	34	+2	69,089	465	15
6	Σμύρνη μου αγαπημένη (My Beloved Smyrna) [GR]	2,683	+5.1%	37	+3	220,633	244	11
7	Rock Dog 2: Rock Around the Park	2,310	-23.5%	65	-13	5,674	225	2
8	Wrath of Man	1,545	-48.7%	10	-68	15,418	309	3
9	Blacklight	1,416	-72.2%	9	-59	9,854	154	2
10	Spider-Man: No Way Home	1,031	-49.5%	6	-11	463,624	190	12

 

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-the-vengeance-of-a-great-batman-movie/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-03-03-2022.html

 

The arrival of 'The Batman' was reinvigorating for the box office, even though the film itself failed to meet expectations. The Clean Monday holiday (a religious holiday related to the beginning of Lent) did not help the situation. If anything, people were probably honoring the tradition of flying kites rather than going to the cinema. Overall, cumulative admissions for the weekend reached 108,679 and, when including the Monday holiday, the total reached 125,496. This is only the third time in the post-pandemic period that cumulative admissions reached six digits, the other two being the last two weekends of December, when 'No Way Home' was soaring.

 

The Pattinson-led entry of the Bat franchise achieved the 15th biggest opening weekend for a comic-book movie. It was also the 5th biggest DC opening ever. It was on par with 'Dark Knight Rises', but that film had burnt off demand due to a Tuesday opening. 'The Batman' also came in far below 'Batman v Superman' or 'Joker' and only slightly higher than 'Justice League'.

 

Rank	Title	Opening weekend*	Total admissions	Release date	Multiplier
1	Joker	135,735	906,160	Thu, Oct 3, 2019	6.68
2	Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice	122,428	276,311	Thu, Mar 24, 2016	2.26
3	The Dark Knight	100,000	339,520	Thu, Jul 17, 2008	3.40
4	The Dark Knight Rises	74,530	346,585	Tue, Aug 21, 2012	4.65
5	The Batman	74,001	85,947	Thu, Mar 3, 2022	1.16
6	Justice League	62,658	158,596	Thu, Nov 16, 2017	2.53
7	Suicide Squad	61,555	207,982	Thu, Aug 25, 2016	3.38
8	Batman Begins	56,000**	174,100	Wed, Jun 15, 2005	3.11
9	Aquaman	53,858	212,539	Thu, Dec 13, 2018	3.95
10	Superman Returns	52,100	102,000-105,000	Thu, Sep 7, 2006	1.99
11	Man of Steel	44,904	130,000	Thu, Jun 20, 2013	2.90
12	Watchmen	42,360	83,650	Thu, Mar 12, 2009	1.97
13	Wonder Woman	38,618	125,196	Thu, Jun 8, 2017	3.24

 

*These numbers refer to the tally for the traditional four-day Thu-to-Sun weekend

**Before August 2005, the traditional weekend was three days (Fri-to-Sun)

 

It remains to be seen whether the word-of-mouth will be good enough. But unfortunately the blockbuster milestone of 200K admissions is far from guaranteed. It will need to achieve a 2.7x multiplier, which is certainly doable, but then again several DC films have failed to get there.

 

As for holdovers, 'Uncharted' and 'Death on the Nile' continued their precipitous drop to the bottom. It is turning out to be a race between the two, with the prior opening smaller than the latter, but slowly catching up with stronger holds. The best holds were once again registered by animated films 'Encanto' and 'Sing 2'. 'Encanto' has been in the Top 10 for 15 consecutive weekends and has now matched 'Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation's' record for the most consecutive weekends in the Top 10 (the records I have go back to 2012). The arrival of Disney-Pixar's 'Turning Red' next week might put an end to this streak but not necessarily. Meanwhile, Greek historical drama 'My Beloved Smyrna' continues to hold very well, slowly undoing the disappointment of its rather lackluster opening. Animated film 'Rock Dog 2' was the final film of the Top 10 to hold well, followed by the steep drops of Jason Statham's 'Wrath of Man', Liam Neeson's 'Blacklight' and 'Spider-Man: No Way Home'. All three lost at least two thirds of their screens, so such drops were expected.

 

Next week will mark the release of Disney-Pixar's 'Turning Red', Kogonada-directed 'After Yang' and British drama 'Boiling Point'. I don't expect 'Turning Red' to top the charts, with 'The Batman' still at large.

Edited March 9, 2022 by Quigley

[Quigley]

Weekend: March 10-13, 2022

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions by Sunday	Week
1	The Batman	47,469	-35.9%	177	+2	158,314	2
2	Turning Red	23,581	–	104	–	23,581	1
3	Uncharted	6,536	-29.3%	47	-2	81,886	4
4	Death on the Nile	3,768	-10.6%	31	+4	91,948	5
5	Sing 2	2,524	-38.8%	36	-11	112,286	13
6	Encanto	2,025	-43.5%	25	-9	71,613	16
7	Σμύρνη μου αγαπημένη (My Beloved Smyrna) [GR]	1,378	-48.6%	29	-8	222,983	12
8	Wrath of Man	1,091	-29.4%	14	+4	17,362	4
9	Spider-Man: No Way Home	859	-16.7%	8	+2	464,824	13
10	Boiling Point	845	–	11	–	845	1

 

Source: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-10-03-2022.html

 

The low drops seen across the board this weekend led to a 93,397-admission cume and further demonstrate that moviegoing is not an activity that Greeks reserve for three-day weekends. Last weekend's public holiday on Monday actually provided an opportunity for other sorts of escapades, it seems. Pattinson's 'The Batman' had an unexpectedly impressive 36% drop. That is actually one of the best superhero sophomore drops ever recorded. 'Logan' had dropped 34.5% during its second weekend back in March 2017, while 'Black Panther' dropped 38.1% in February 2018. It goes without saying, but it is of course nowhere close to 'Avenger: Endgame's' 14.9% sophomore increase or 'Joker's' 7.1% increase. Back in realityville, thought, most superhero films tend to drop between 50 and 70%, so 'Batman's' hold is nothing short of a big success. If 'Batman' were to continue with 35% drops from now on –high unlikely– it would reach 310K admissions. A total around 250K admissions seems more likely.

 

Moving on to another big success, Pixar's 'Turning Red' registered the biggest animated opening in the post-pandemic period, breaking the record set by Pixar's own 'Luca' last July. That being said, it is nowhere near being a big opening for an animated film - it is Pixar's 7th worst opening and far from 'Finding Dory's top-notch 90K-admission opening. The only other opener to reach the Top 10 was 'Boiling Point', but it seems like this film had evaporated long before reaching its... boiling point.

 

The best hold of the Top 10 was achieved by 'Death on the Nile', which had so far been recording drops around 50%. It seems like it could reach the 100K-admission milestone right before its... death. It will nevertheless get nowhere near Hercule Poirot's 'Murder on the Orient Express', which topped 350K admissions. Tom Holland's 'Uncharted' and 'No Way Home' both had very good holds too. Moving on, it seems that, apart from turning into different colours, 'Turning Red' has also... turned the tables for other animated films in the market, since 'Sing 2' and 'Encanto' understandably dropped bigger than most other holdovers. Nevertheless, 'Encanto' has now broken 'Hotel Transylvania 3's' record for the most consecutive weekends in the Top 10. If it stays in the Top 10 for another weekend, it will also match 'Luca's record for the most weekends in the Top 10 overall (consecutive or not).

 

Next week, 'The Batman' is aiming for a hat trick, since no new releases can really threaten its reign at the top. The one likely to sell the most tickets is Greek film 'A Journey to the Stars', a story inspired by the biggest football team in Athens (Panathinaikos), but it is not expected to be a big box-office success.

Edited March 15, 2022 by Quigley

[Quigley]

Weekend: March 17-20, 2022

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions by Sunday	Week
1	The Batman	27,485	-42.1%	122	-55	207,425	3
2	Turning Red	22,607	-4.1%	125	+21	50,148	2
3	Ambulance	8,099	–	77	–	8,099	1
4	Uncharted	4,336	-33.7%	28	-19	88,723	5
5	Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard	4,046	–	46	–	4,046	1
6	Death on the Nile	2,401	-36.3%	17	-14	96,076	6
7	Ταξίδι στα αστέρια (A Journey to the Stars) [GR]	2,397	–	39	–	3,339	1
8	Encanto	2,287	+12.9%	26	+1	73,934	17
9	Sing 2	2,160	-14.4%	27	-9	114,592	14
10	Σμύρνη μου αγαπημένη (My Beloved Smyrna) [GR]	1,543	+12.0%	31	+2	226,132	13

 

Sources: https://www.grandmagazine.gr/el/article/6530/box-office-batman-gia-triti-ebdomada-stin-korufh

https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-the-batman-wins-for-a-third-week-in-a-row/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-17-03-2022.html

 

The weekend saw 80,232 admissions sold in Greek cinemas, slightly off from last weekend. Pattinson's 'The Batman' is proving to be sturdier than originally thought. Its third weekend is nearly double the size of 'Batman v Superman's' third weekend (14,729 admissions). It is still trailing it by about 45K in total admissions, but the difference is shrinking fast. Michael Bay's action thriller 'Ambulance' and action comedy sequel 'Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard' didn't really make a dent into Batman's earnings. Among other openers, a Greek film about Panathinaikos, the biggest Athens football team (soccer team, for the Americans among us), called 'A Journey to the Stars' was a spectacular failure, selling roughly one tenth of '1968's' opening in January 2018. That was another film about a popular Greek football team.

 

As for holdovers, Pixar's 'Turning Red' retained the second spot and had a very small drop. It is displaying similar behaviour to last summer's 'Luca', which saw a small increase during its second weekend. That film dropped heavily on its third weekend, though, a fate that could also befall 'Turning Red' given that DreamWorks Animation's 'The Bad Guys' arrives next weekend. Holds were in fact stellar across the board, led by 'Encanto' once again, which has now matched 'Luca's' record for most weekends in the Top 10. We also know that 'A Touch of Spice', the Greek historical drama that took Greece by storm in late 2003 with 1.3 million admissions, spent 17 weekends in the Top 10 of the Athenian box office. We have no data about the nationwide weekend box office from back then, but it's easy to imagine that its nationwide rankings wouldn't be far off. 'My Beloved Smyrna's' increase was close behind 'Encanto', as it probably spends its final weekend in the Top 10. Illumination Entertainment's 'Sing 2' has now surpassed 'Dune' to become 2021's sixth biggest film. Meanwhile, 'Death of the Nile' is edging ever so closer to the 100K-admission milestone, with 'Uncharted' hot on its heels.

 

It's worth keeping an eye on three films that open this coming weekend: one has already been mentioned, DreamWorks Animation's 'The Bad Guys', as well as action comedy 'The Lost City' and Greek historical film 'The Wind of Freedom'.

Edited March 28, 2022 by Quigley

[Quigley]

Weekend: March 24-27, 2022

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions by Sunday	Week
1	The Batman	14,604	-46.9%	96	-26	233,073	4
2	The Lost City	13,916	–	90	–	13,916	1
3	The Bad Guys	12,650	–	96	–	12,650	1
4	Turning Red	9,867	-56.4%	102	-23	62,069	3
5	Ambulance	2,605	-67.8%	41	-36	13,875	2
6	Uncharted	2,425	-44.1%	23	-5	92,512	6
7	Adieu Monsieur Haffmann [French]	1,339	–	19	–	1,339	1
8	Death on the Nile	1,243	-48.2%	14	-3	98,398	7
9	Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard	1,185	-70.7%	12	-34	6,642	2
10	Encanto	1,181	-48.4%	22	-4	75,135	18

 

Sources: https://www.grandmagazine.gr/el/article/6543/box-office-den-peftei-me-tipota-o-batman-apo-tin-korufh

https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-the-batman-tops-for-a-fourth-time-in-a-row/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-24-03-2022.html

 

This was a close race with only 688 admissions separating first and second place, although it was far from the closest photo finish of the post-pandemic period, seen in October 2020. 'The Batman' topped the box office for a fourth consecutive weekend, a feat last achieved by 'Man of God' in August & September 2021 – that film stayed on top for five weekends in total. Action comedy 'The Lost City' was close behind, itself followed closely by DreamWorks Animation's 'The Bad Guys'. The latter was a far cry from Pixar's 'Turning Red', which nevertheless took a big hit this weekend despite not losing many screens. Fellow Disney's 'Encanto' also took a big hit, but remained in the Top 10 for the 18th consecutive weekend. This is a feat likely never seen before during the modern era of the Greek box office. That it was achieved by a film with such a small total, only 75,000 admissions, in contrast to Greek historical drama 'Touch of Spice' which spent 17 weeks in the Top 10 and earned 1.3 million admissions, makes it all the more impressive. As for other holdovers, last week's action films 'Ambulance' and 'Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard' both dropped precipitously, while 'Death on the Nile' is a smidge away from crossing the 100K-admission milestone. Tom Holland's 'Uncharted' is slowly losing sight of 'Death of the Nile' and will likely end its run just a couple thousand admissions lower unfortunately. Total admissions for the weekend reached 65,406, slightly below 2022's average so far.

 

Next weekend, another kids flick, 'Sonic the Hedgehog 2', joins what has quickly become a very busy family market, following months of domination of 'Sing 2' and 'Encanto'. It will be vying for first place against 'Morbius', a Marvel-based film that is part of the Sony Spider-Man Universe.

Edited March 31, 2022 by Quigley

[Quigley]

Weekend: March 31-April 3, 2022

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions by Sunday	Week
1	Sonic the Hedgehog 2	20,341	–	81	–	20,341	1
2	Morbius	17,601	–	120	–	17,601	1
3	The Bad Guys	11,163	-11.8%	88	-8	25,960	2
4	The Batman	7,364	-49.6%	63	-33	245,892	5
5	The Lost City	7,130	-48.8%	68	-22	27,079	2
6	Turning Red	5,460	-44.7%	69	-33	68,285	4
7	Uncharted	1,409	-41.9%	14	-9	94,630	7
8	Encanto	1,129	-4.4%	19	-3	76,304	19
9	Adieu Monsieur Haffmann [French]	882	-34.1%	13	-6	2,783	2
10	Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard	666	-43.8%	3	-9	7,645	3

 

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-4-out-of-10-are-for-kids/

https://www.grandmagazine.gr/el/article/6558/box-office-o-diastimikos-skantzoxoiros-epestrepse

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-31-03-2022.html

 

The weekend had a clear winner, 'Sonic the Hedgehog 2', which put an end to the month-long domination of Pattinson's 'The Batman'. It did quite well, registering the third biggest opening for a family film since the start of the pandemic – only behind Pixar's 'Turning Red' and 'Luca'. 'Sonic 2' also opened higher than its predecessor, which opened to 16,044 admissions on the last weekend before the Wuhan coronavirus hit Greece in late February 2020. Sony-Marvel's 'Morbius' fared far worse than expected, selling nearly half the tickets of 'Death on the Nile' and 'Uncharted'. It was actually one of the worst Marvel comic openings ever, second only to 2015's 'Fantastic Four'. It was only slightly lower than the MCU's previous worst opening, 'Ant Man's' 18,674-admissions. Last year's 'Shang-Chi' (18,784 admissions) and 'Black Widow' (19,451 admissions) openings were not far ahead.

 

Despite the arrival of 'Sonic 2', DreamWorks Animation's 'The Bad Guys' achieved an impressive 12% hold, mirroring the impressive hold that 'Turning Red' recorded on its second weekend. Speaking of which, the Pixar flick recovered from a steep drop last weekend, but seems unlikely to reach 100K admissions. The final animated film of the bunch, 'Encanto' has remained in the Top 10 for a whopping 19 consecutive weekends (likely a modern era record), despite its quite underwhelming total – it does not even rank in 2021's Top 10. On the other hand, 'The Batman' had its biggest drop yet, finding itself in a similar position as other action films, 'The Lost City', 'Uncharted' and 'Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard', all which had drops in the 40s.

[Quigley]

Weekend: April 7-10, 2022

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions by Sunday	Week
1	Sonic the Hedgehog 2	14,125	-30.6%	112	+31	37,800	2
2	The Bad Guys	6,891	-38.3%	80	-8	34,815	3
3	Morbius	6,253	-64.5%	69	-51	32,114	2
4	The Lost City	4,516	-36.7%	55	-13	35,035	3
5	The Batman	4,457	-39.5%	44	-19	253,723	6
6	X	3,090	–	48	–	3,090	1
7	Turning Red	2,975	-45.5%	60	-9	71,690	5
8	Copshop	2,084	–	49	–	2,084	1
9	Encanto	1,113	-1.4%	17	-2	77,417	20
10	Les Promesses [French]	691	–	28	–	691	1

 

Source: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-07-04-2022.html

 

This past weekend was one of the quietest of the year so far with only 49.4K admissions. More than half of those came from family films! 'Sonic 2' enjoyed a near-40% increase in screen count, but still managed to drop about 30%. Even worse were the drops for other animated films, such as 'The Bad Guys', which is gonna struggle to reach 50K admissions, and 'Turning Red', which has no chances of reaching 100K admissions. The only noteworthy hold among animated films was achieved by 'Encanto', which has now stayed in the Top 10 for an inconceivable 20-weekend streak. That is unheard of in recent times, but the film's total is disproportionately underwhelming in comparison. That being said, at this rate, 'Turning Red' may actually fail to overtake it.

 

'Morbius', Sony-Marvel's latest entry had a steep drop, the kind that we've become used to from most superhero movies. This is not the case though for 'The Batman', which has so far never had a weekend drop of more than 50%. It has now successfully crossed the 250K-admission mark – most likely the last milestone of its impressive run. 'The Lost City' continued its mediocre run with a modest drop.

 

A short note on the weekend's newcomers: they all tanked. Tomorrow (Wednesday), the long-delayed 'Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore' arrives in theatres (without Johnny Depp). It is joined on Thursday by action-comedy 'Bullet Train'.

[Quigley]

Weekend: April 14-17, 2022

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions by Sunday	Week
1	Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore	25,302	–	146	–	33,017	1
2	Sonic the Hedgehog 2	8,544	-39.5%	107	-5	48,326	3
3	The Bad Guys	4,533	-34.2%	80	0	40,219	4
4	The Lost City	3,337	-26.1%	26	-29	39,566	4
5	Morbius	2,668	-57.3%	26	-43	37,290	3
6	The Batman	2,538	-43.1%	23	-21	258,039	7
7	Turning Red	2,077	-30.2%	45	-15	73,956	6
8	Encanto	1,185	+6.5%	22	+5	78,832	21
9	X	1,124	-63.6%	14	-34	6,395	2
10	Αδάμ, που ει; (Where Are You, Adam?) [GR]	768	–	27	–	768	1

 

Sources: https://www.grandmagazine.gr/el/article/6586/box-office-fantastika-zoa-gia-fantastikous-8eates

https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-dumbledore-saves-the-weekend/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-14-04-2022.html

 

The 'Fantastic Beasts' threequel continued the trend of other franchises whose sequels dropped about 50% in the post-pandemic period. Its immediate predecessor opened to 53,837 admissions (60,072 when including previews), back in November 2018, while the original opened to 58,176 admissions in November 2016. Based on its predecessors' trajectory and given that next weekend, being Easter weekend in Greece, will be notoriously quiet, 'Fantastic Beasts 3' is unlikely to reach the 100K-admission milestone.

 

Apart top and bottom spot, the rest of the Top 10 chart was occupied by holdovers, starting with 'Sonic 2', which dropped a sizeable 40%. It is doing better than 'The Bad Guys' but worse than 'Turning Red'. Speaking of which, the latter will almost certainly fail to overtake 'Encanto'. The latest animated Disney film is in its 21st week and stubbornly remains in the weekly Top 10. It still has not managed to reach 2021's yearly Top 10, as it would have to beat 'The Father's' 83,458 admissions. The remaining live action holdovers exhibited a variety of performances, from 'The Lost City's' superb hold to 'Χ's' precipitous drop. Either way, none of them have achieved any significant milestones, other than 'The Batman' of course, which is nearing 260K admissions and a 3.5x multiplier. It is very close to 'Batman v Superman's' 276.3K admissions, but is unlikely to surpass it. Nevertheless, the film seems to be the 10th best comic book film of all time (or 11th depending on the tally of the original 'Spider-Man', which we don't know).

 

As mentioned already, next weekend is the Easter weekend. Most theaters are closed on Friday and Saturday. Even Sunday is generally quiet as people spend Easter day with family and friends, focusing on barbecues rather than cinema screens.

Edited May 9, 2022 by Quigley

[Quigley]

Easter Weekend: April 21-24, 2022 (and Monday, April 25)

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions by Sunday	Monday admissions	Week
1	The Northman	5,009	–	85	–	5,009	2,976	1
2	Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore	3,189	-87.4%	111	-35	51,520	2,056	2
3	Sonic the Hedgehog 2	1,275	-85.1%	81	-26	54,456	1,330	4
4	The Bad Guys	664	-85.4%	46	-34	43,344	709	5
5	The Lost City	480	-85.6%	19	-7	42,053	527	5
6	Tre nøtter til Askepott [Norwegian]	455	–	71	–	455	399	1
7	Morbius	447	-83.2%	13	-13	39,641	233	4
8	The Batman	439	-82.7%	11	-12	260,558	339	8
9	Notre-Dame brûle [French]	361	–	36	–	361	270	1
10	Encanto	300	-74.7%	17	-5	79,894	323	22

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-this-easter-bloodshed-came-from-the-north/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-21-04-2022.html

 

The Easter weekend was, as expected, terribly quiet. Virtually all cinemas were closed on Great Friday and Great Saturday, making it into a two-day weekend (Thursday and Sunday). For many films, the Monday admissions were enough to out-gross the entire weekend. The best hold: 'Encanto', which has stayed in the Top 10 for an eye-popping 22 consecutive weekends.

 

Weekend: April 28-May 1, 2022 (and Monday, May 2)

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions by Sunday	Monday admissions	Week
1	The Northman	11,183	+123.3%	99	+14	25,973	3,406	2
2	Memory	6,607	–	61	–	6,607	2,365	1
3	Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore	6,325	+98.3%	71	-40	64,554	1,838	3
4	Sonic the Hedgehog 2	5,092	+299.4%	67	-14	63,821	1,920	5
5	Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon	3,783	–	64	–	3,783	1,782	1
6	The Bad Guys	3,299	+396.8%	42	-4	49,381	1,706	6
7	Everything Everywhere All at Once	1,879	–	30	–	1,879	545	1
8	The Lost City	1,383	+188.1%	12	-7	44,909	440	6
9	Tre nøtter til Askepott [Norwegian]	1,268	+178.7%	50	-21	2,973	544	2
10	The Batman	961	+118.9%	9	-2	262,405	326	9

 

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-a-sense-of-blossom/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-28-04-2022.html

 

This was the second long weekend in a row, thanks to the Labor Day (May 1) public holiday, which was moved to Monday, May 2. Unlike the Easter long weekend, this one is always busier (unless Easter falls on the Labor Day weekend). 'The Batman' has reached a respectable total and will probably edge close to 265K admissions, although it will not manage to out-gross 'Batman v Superman' (277K admissions). There is a very close race between 'Fantastic Beasts 3' and 'Sonic 2'. The latter may beat 'Turning Red' (77.9K admissions), to become the year's biggest kids flick. 'The Bad Guys' has crossed the 50K-admission milestone, but won't get much farther than that. 'The Northman' has managed to stay at the top for a second weekend, but is bound to fall out of favor when 'Doctor Strange 2' makes its way into theaters this Thursday. The latter's predecessor scored a 58K-admission opening, which is probably far out of reach for this one.

[Claudio]

2 hours ago, Quigley said:

Easter Weekend: April 21-24, 2022 (and Monday, April 25)

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions by Sunday	Monday admissions	Week
1	The Northman	5,009	–	85	–	5,009	2,976	1
2	Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore	3,189	-87.4%	111	-35	51,520	2,056	2
3	Sonic the Hedgehog 2	1,275	-85.1%	81	-26	54,456	1,330	4
4	The Bad Guys	664	-85.4%	46	-34	43,344	709	5
5	The Lost City	480	-85.6%	19	-7	42,053	527	5
6	Tre nøtter til Askepott [Norwegian]	455	–	71	–	455	399	1
7	Morbius	447	-83.2%	13	-13	39,641	233	4
8	The Batman	439	-82.7%	11	-12	260,558	339	8
9	Notre-Dame brûle [French]	361	–	36	–	361	270	1
10	Encanto	300	-74.7%	17	-5	79,894	323	22

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-this-easter-bloodshed-came-from-the-north/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-21-04-2022.html

 

The Easter weekend was, as expected, terribly quiet. Virtually all cinemas were closed on Great Friday and Great Saturday, making it into a two-day weekend (Thursday and Sunday). For many films, the Monday admissions were enough to out-gross the entire weekend. The best hold: 'Encanto', which has stayed in the Top 10 for an eye-popping 22 consecutive weekends.

 

Weekend: April 28-May 1, 2022 (and Monday, May 2)

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions by Sunday	Monday admissions	Week
1	The Northman	11,183	+123.3%	99	+14	25,973	3,406	2
2	Memory	6,607	–	61	–	6,607	2,365	1
3	Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore	6,325	+98.3%	71	-40	64,554	1,838	3
4	Sonic the Hedgehog 2	5,092	+299.4%	67	-14	63,821	1,920	5
5	Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon	3,783	–	64	–	3,783	1,782	1
6	The Bad Guys	3,299	+396.8%	42	-4	49,381	1,706	6
7	Everything Everywhere All at Once	1,879	–	30	–	1,879	545	1
8	The Lost City	1,383	+188.1%	12	-7	44,909	440	6
9	Tre nøtter til Askepott [Norwegian]	1,268	+178.7%	50	-21	2,973	544	2
10	The Batman	961	+118.9%	9	-2	262,405	326	9

 

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-a-sense-of-blossom/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-28-04-2022.html

 

This was the second long weekend in a row, thanks to the Labor Day (May 1) public holiday, which was moved to Monday, May 2. Unlike the Easter long weekend, this one is always busier (unless Easter falls on the Labor Day weekend). 'The Batman' has reached a respectable total and will probably edge close to 265K admissions, although it will not manage to out-gross 'Batman v Superman' (277K admissions). There is a very close race between 'Fantastic Beasts 3' and 'Sonic 2'. The latter may beat 'Turning Red' (77.9K admissions), to become the year's biggest kids flick. 'The Bad Guys' has crossed the 50K-admission milestone, but won't get much farther than that. 'The Northman' has managed to stay at the top for a second weekend, but is bound to fall out of favor when 'Doctor Strange 2' makes its way into theaters this Thursday. The latter's predecessor scored a 58K-admission opening, which is probably far out of reach for this one.

Any predictions for DS:MOM opening?

[Quigley]

On 5/4/2022 at 9:51 AM, Claudio said:

Any predictions for DS:MOM opening?

Hard to say as there are no official presales and I don't track presales personally.

 

I would say 50-60% of the original's opening, but it's total guesswork.

[Quigley]

Weekend: May 5-8, 2022

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness	114,008	–	183	–	114,008	1
2	The Northman	4,346	-61.1%	36	-63	37,864	3
3	Memory	3,559	-46.1%	24	-37	14,891	2
4	Sonic the Hedgehog 2	2,357	-53.7%	50	-17	69,454	6
5	Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon	2,329	-38.4%	48	-16	8,369	2
6	100% Wolf	2,306	–	53	–	2,306	1
7	Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore	2,208	-65.1%	19	-52	70,510	4
8	The Bad Guys	2,085	-36.8%	27	-15	53,521	7
9	Downton Abbey: A New Era	1,348	–	34	–	1,348	1
10	Full Time	1,054	–	11	–	1,054	1

 

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-tickets-from-another-multiverse/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-05-05-2022.html

 

Wow. In what was cumulatively the biggest weekend of the year so far (138,727 admissions), Marvel has surprised us once more with a sensational debut by the latest entry in Benedict Cumberbatch's wizard franchise. It was the third best opening ever for the MCU and the fifth biggest superhero opening overall. It nearly doubled the opening of its predecessor. A number of factors could have easily led us to believe that a decline was likely, such as franchise burnout and post-pandemic depression, but in a similar manner to 'Spider-Man: No Way Home', it bucked the trend of recent months. One could also deduce that the star power of Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen remains very strong. However, it still remains a puzzle why 'No Way Home' and 'Multiverse of Madness' are the only two blockbusters that surpassed expectations in the post-pandemic period. It can't be the Marvel brand on its own, since 'Black Widow', 'Shang Chi' and 'Eternals' all failed to gain traction. It can't be star power on its own, since many films in recent months had big stars yet failed. Therefore, it is probably a combination of the two (yes, 'Black Widow' also had both, but it was a prequel and it opened quite early in the post-pandemic period, when audiences were still reluctant to go the movies). Hell, the 'Doctor Strange' sequel even beat the latest entry of the 'Batman' franchise, which has always been strong in Greece. One final factor contributing to the film's success in Greece is the fact that, from May 1, no coronavirus immunity certificate (recent confirmed infection or vaccination) is required in order to enter indoor spaces, such as cinemas. The doors have opened for everyone and, although these restrictions had not stopped people from flocking to cinemas in December to see 'No Way Home', their removal surely hasn't done any harm to 'Multiverse of Madness's' performance. 

 

Marvel Cinematic Universe (Top 15 openings)
Rank	Title	Opening weekend	Total	Release date	Multiplier
1	Spider-Man: No Way Home	150,813	465,982	16/12/21	3.09
2	Avengers: Infinity War	129,549	363,487	26/04/18	2.81
3	Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness	114,008	114,008	05/05/22	1.00
4	Captain America: Civil War	101,800	215,155	05/05/16	2.11
5	Avengers: Age of Ultron	94,250	224,334	30/04/15	2.38
6	Avengers: Endgame	93,217	537,690	24/04/19	5.77
7	The Avengers	75,755	242,565	26/04/12	3.20
8	Iron Man 3	66,278	206,006	25/04/13	3.11
9	Captain Marvel	63,580	202,622	07/03/19	3.19
10	Iron Man	61,400	146,800	01/05/08	2.39
11	Iron Man 2	61,080	154,360	29/04/10	2.53
12	Thor: Ragnarok	60,036	165,522	02/11/17	2.76
13	Doctor Strange	58,232	169,010	27/10/16	2.90
14	Thor	55,630	125,857	28/04/11	2.26
15	Spider-Man: Far from Home	51,641	188,791	03/07/19	3.66

 

Lower down the list: signs of devastating decay, with no film earning more than 5,000 admissions. Animated films 'The Bad Guys' and 'Ainbo' achieved the best holds, while last weekend's winner, 'The Northman', and high-profile release 'Fantastic Beasts 3' took a severe hit.

 

By the way, in case you were bored of hearing about 'Encanto', I'd like to let you know that it has now broken into the 2021 Top 10 list, after finally beating 'The Father' (83,558 vs 83,458 admissions). You can see the Top 10 list for 2021 –and for 2022– on the first page.

 

Next week, six new movies enter the scene, all vying for a chunk of the pie. Hard to say which one will be the winner among them: 'Operation Mincemeat', 'Firestarter', 'The Protégé', 'The People Upstairs', 'Black Box' and 'La fille au bracelet'. What is almost certain though is that 'Doctor Strange 2' will stay at the top.

Edited May 11, 2022 by Quigley

[Quigley]

Weekend: May 12-15, 2022

 

Rank	Title	Weekend admissions	% Change	Screen count / Change		Total admissions	Week
1	Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness	32,750	-71.3%	166	-17	183,222	2
2	Operation Mincemeat	2,626	–	39	–	2,626	1
3	Sonic the Hedgehog 2	2,378	+0.9%	49	-1	72,271	7
4	The Northman	2,228	-48.7%	28	-8	42,897	4
5	The Bad Guys	1,958	-6.1%	29	+2	55,760	8
6	Firestarter	1,574	–	43	–	1,574	1
7	100% Wolf	1,529	-33.7%	50	-3	4,105	2
8	Memory	1,478	-58.5%	12	-12	18,380	3
9	Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon	1,113	-52.2%	41	-7	9,173	3
10	La fille au bracelet [French]	985	–	14	–	985	1

 

Sources: https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-a-fatal-summer-is-on-our-way/

https://flix.gr/news/box-office-12-05-2022.html

 

Coming down from an impressive 138,727-admission weekend, this one's cumulative admissions only reached 53,727. 'Doctor Strange 2' predictably stayed in first place, but it was a rather Pyrrhic victory, as it dropped precipitously by 71%. That is actually one of the worst sophomore drops ever for a superhero film. Although I have not made a complete table of all superhero sophomore drops, I have a table with most high-profile superhero films of recent years. Save for 'Iron Man 3's' 81.3% drop (a film which opened on the pre-Easter weekend and was thus expected to crash on its second weekend), 'Doctor Strange 2' has registered the worst sophomore drop on record. The second worst is 'Black Widow', with a 69.7% drop.

 

The story of 'Doctor Strange 2's' tragic demise would be the most tragic story of the week if it wasn't for the abysmal performance of all six newcomers. Neither of them sold more than 3,000 admissions and they all collectively sold fewer than 7,000 admissions. The best one, 'Operation Mincemeat', has underperformed compared to all recent WWII historical dramas. The best holds were registered once again by animated films, as this seems to be the only rule in Greek cinemas that is virtually never broken. Thanks to its slight increase, 'Sonic 2' is now edging closer to becoming the year's biggest kids flick, hot on the heels of 'Turning Red', which stands at 79,307 admissions. The same cannot be said for 'The Bad Guys', which is stuck below 60K admissions but has nevertheless stayed in the Top 10 for 8 weekends.

 

Greek historical drama 'My Beloved Smyrna' which was a big hit over the Christmas holiday period is now having a comeback, with a shortened version that will play in outdoor cinemas across Greece. It has so far reached 232,207 admissions.

Edited May 17, 2022 by Quigley