The Box Office Buzz and Tracking Thread: Electric Boogaloo

[Cmasterclay]

Fate of the Furious did 10.4 million previews on a holiday in pre-COVID times coming off Fast 7, so anything over 8 million previews would be pretty spectacular for this. That's my baseline.

[WrathOfHan]

Afternoon update with significantly more showtimes and full capacity:

 

7:00 Dolby: 112/236 (+39)

7:15: 13/107 (New)

7:30: 46/107 (+5)

7:45: 5/40 (New)

8:00 IMAX: 17/372 (+7)

8:15: 3/70 (New)

8:30: 21/107 (+18)

8:45: 2/70 (New)

9:00: 5/107 (-)

9:15: 0/40 (New)

9:15: 4/67 (New)

9:30: 4/67 (New)

Total: 235/1,390 (+103/+461)

 

Comparisons:

 

118% of AQP2 Previews (5.7M)

220% of ITH Thurs+Fri (11M)

287% of Conjuring 3's Friday the day before (28.1M)

 

I'm getting slightly concerned that this will have a lower OD than AQP2 unless walkups pick up. I am fairly surprised that the IMAX showing hasn't picked up sales too much since Tuesday, especially when AQP2 was selling well a month ago. Dolby and a couple standard shows have solid increases though. I'll do another update in a few hours and see if walkups have improved along with Friday sales.

[Cmasterclay]

The numbers from the MTC tracking and from the seven city sample are just not tracking with Pothros/Han/Eric's numbers right now. Weird.

[charlie Jatinder]

5 minutes ago, katnisscinnaplex said:

Phoenix sales exclude Harkins

Phoenix Harkins BW was 1064 on 100 shows in 18 theaters for THU as on 20th June.

[charlie Jatinder]

2 minutes ago, Cmasterclay said:

The numbers from the MTC tracking and from the seven city sample are just not tracking with Pothros/Han/Eric's numbers right now. Weird.

They are actually, just that no right comps for now.

[el sid]

F9, counted today at 11am EST for Friday:

NY (AMC Fresh Meadows 7): 820 (19 showtimes)
Miami (AMC Sunset Place 24): 486 (24 showtimes)
Grand Rapids (AMC Grand Rapids 18): 286 (15 showtimes)
Austin (AMC Lakeline 9): 28 (6 showtimes)
Tempe/Phoenix (AMC Centerpoint 11): 145 (12 showtimes)
San Francisco (AMC Metreon 16): 493 (29 showtimes)
LA (AMC Universal): 1.327 (31 showtimes)
 

Total tickets sold in 7 theaters: 3.585.

Up 27.5% since yesterday. H&S jumped 26% from Wednesday to Thursday.
Comps: Hobbs & Shaw had also on Thursday of its release week 2.465 sold tickets in these 7 theaters for Friday. F9 made up ground in San Francisco percentage-wise but is at the moment still 200 tickets behind. In LA F9 is almost 1.000 tickets in front, strange. And in Arizona F9 is now comfortable in front.
AQP II had on Thursday for its previews on the same day in the same 7 theaters 1.582 sold tickets.
Bad Boys for Life had on Thursday for Friday 1.893 sold tickets.

I also say 70M+. Fingers crossed.

Edited June 24, 2021 by el sid

[Eric the Fall Guy]

40 minutes ago, Sheldon Cr said:

Hey men or. What did Godzilla vs Kong do OW ?

Gd Afternoon all.😎

 

 

Google is your friend.

[Porthos]

19 minutes ago, Cmasterclay said:

The numbers from the MTC tracking and from the seven city sample are just not tracking with Pothros/Han/Eric's numbers right now. Weird.

 

16 minutes ago, charlie Jatinder said:

They are actually, just that no right comps for now.

 

Gave some thoughts on why my Sacto's AQP II comps look to be so out of whack last night, but I'd also add that Sacramento seemed to be kinda still in HOLY SHIT, WE CAN SEE MOVIES AGAIN mode.  I also tend to wonder if the 25% capping that (most of) Sacto had at the time led to some FOMO as a casual ticket buyer might load up Fandango, see the sheer number of "sold out" showings and buy a ticket "while they still could" when they might not have other wise.  This might explain a bit of a bump here that wasn't replicated in other areas that had 33% or 50% or no caps at all.

 

Or it could have just been that Sacto was ahead of the curve when it came to Casual Movie Watching for whatever reason/my market was mostly recovered, but large swaths of the US weren't.  

 

Finally don't forget that Deadline report that suggested a decent number of screens in the US are still closed/never gonna reopen:

 

Quote

According to box office sources in regards to improvement to the exhibition marketplace: Forty-three states are now allowing theatres to operate without capacity restrictions. Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, and Puerto Rico are still enforcing auditorium limitations or social distancing guidelines. Number 1 movie circuit AMC is increasing their auditorium capacity cap to 100% in those areas of the U.S. where they allowed, and 75% where social distancing is still being enforced. Over 77% of 5,8K cinemas in U.S./Canada remain open. That translates into 85% of 44K domestic screens in operation.

 

In Canada, cinemas in Ontario remain closed until late July, including B.O. capital Toronto. On the other hand, Edmonton and Calgary Theaters can reopen to north of a third capacity. British Columbia threw up their doors last Tuesday for 50% capacity. Many movies are feeling the lack of the Great White North in their domestic grosses, which can generate 7%-10% on average. Good news on Canada: 95% of Quebec cinemas are open, along with 73% in Alberta and British Columbia. Saskatchewan also has close to 70% of all movie theaters with the lights back on.

 

Now not all screens are created equal, as we all know.  But does make me think that some sort of downward comp still needs to be applied to movies from the Before Time while also noting that an upward comp probably needs to be made for films this past April and May.

 

Ultimately, as Jat said, not many great comps right now.  And given the movie landscape is literally changing on a month by month basis (if not week by week), F9 might only be good for BW, before its shelf life as a decent comp expires.

[charlie Jatinder]

I think US box office is fully back if not 95% while Canada is 40-50%. So overall is 90-95%.

 

The biggest hurdle movies now have is day and date digital release.

[filmlover]

A major multiplex not too far from me closed late last year after reopening in early September and now the building is pretty much vacated with no chance of reopening (unless someone buys them). Well over 4,000+ theaters probably isn't gonna be as easy to achieve (at least not for a while) due to some theaters going under completely as a result of the aftermath of COVID.

[Porthos]

9 minutes ago, filmlover said:

A major multiplex not too far from me closed late last year after reopening in early September and now the building is pretty much vacated with no chance of reopening (unless someone buys them). Well over 4,000+ theaters probably isn't gonna be as easy to achieve (at least not for a while) due to some theaters going under completely as a result of the aftermath of COVID.

 

Yep, some smaller communities lost all of their screens, like our very own @Cap's locals.  

 

Frankly, I'm amazed that all of our locals are coming back.  There was at least one theater I thought Regal was gonna put on the chopping block given its historical performance here, and a couple of others that were shaky.  Be interesting to see if any of them actually teeter over and shut down in the next 12 months as everything shakes out.

[titanic2187]

 

F8 had 4329 theaters. This isn't far below than that

Edited June 24, 2021 by titanic2187

[filmlover]

19 minutes ago, Porthos said:

 

Yep, some smaller communities lost all of their screens, like our very own @Cap's locals.  

 

Frankly, I'm amazed that all of our locals are coming back.  There was at least one theater I thought Regal was gonna put on the chopping block given its historical performance here, and a couple of others that were shaky.  Be interesting to see if any of them actually teeter over and shut down in the next 12 months as everything shakes out.

Independent theaters have arguably taken the hardest beating from all of this. I work near a 5 screen independent theater that would show indie titles and prestigious studio fare that has been closed since the shutdowns began 15 months ago and now I doubt they will be reopening. Shame.

[Legion Again]

35 minutes ago, filmlover said:

A major multiplex not too far from me closed late last year after reopening in early September and now the building is pretty much vacated with no chance of reopening (unless someone buys them). Well over 4,000+ theaters probably isn't gonna be as easy to achieve (at least not for a while) due to some theaters going under completely as a result of the aftermath of COVID.

Timing 😆

[Legion Again]

H&S was in 1.8% more theaters. Given Canada I bet this actually has *more* theaters in the US. That comp won’t end up needing much adjustment imo.

[filmlover]

1 minute ago, Lokis Legion said:

Timing 😆

lol I was speaking more towards 4,400-4,500 theater counts. There's likely at least 100 (if not more) locations that went belly up over the past year or so.

[WrathOfHan]

24 minutes ago, filmlover said:

A major multiplex not too far from me closed late last year after reopening in early September and now the building is pretty much vacated with no chance of reopening (unless someone buys them). Well over 4,000+ theaters probably isn't gonna be as easy to achieve (at least not for a while) due to some theaters going under completely as a result of the aftermath of COVID.

 

12 minutes ago, Porthos said:

 

Yep, some smaller communities lost all of their screens, like our very own @Cap's locals.  

 

Frankly, I'm amazed that all of our locals are coming back.  There was at least one theater I thought Regal was gonna put on the chopping block given its historical performance here, and a couple of others that were shaky.  Be interesting to see if any of them actually teeter over and shut down in the next 12 months as everything shakes out.

 

Chiming in with my anecdotal evidence: the theater situation back home is dire. Only 3/5 theaters are open, and I'm expecting at least one more to permanently shut down. For most of the pandemic, the AMC and the regional chain were closed two days per week, operated on minuscule hours, and kept half their screens offline. Fortunately all that has changed since Memorial Day, but based on recent sales, I'm not expecting that to continue come August. The theater that just reopened only operates Fri-Sun with consistently low turnout as well. Several new releases like The Conjuring have been turned down, and nighttime showings are now scrapped. 

 

As for the two theaters currently closed, one theater was undergoing renovations when the pandemic started and is currently gutted. The owners are trying to sell the building instead of finishing the renovation. They own the other closed theater as well, and unless the release schedule picks up, it's likely to close permanently. 

 

[Legion Again]

9 minutes ago, filmlover said:

lol I was speaking more towards 4,400-4,500 theater counts. There's likely at least 100 (if not more) locations that went belly up over the past year or so.

Betcha BW is over 4400 (or short by ~ one Ontario worth)

[Inceptionzq]

23 hours ago, Inceptionzq said:

Black Widow Thursday Showings Denver

AMC Westminster 24

Total

343

1980

17.32%

AMC Highlands Ranch 24

Total

351

1939

18.10%

 

SEATS SOLD	SOLD PAST DAY	TOTAL SEATS	PERCENT SOLD	THEATERS	SHOWINGS
1584	84	21278	7.44%	15	112
$150 PWPs:	2
$200 PWPs:	0
$250 PWPs:	0
$300 PWPs:	0
Total	2

 

TLK final count comp: 4.04M; adjusted: 3.27M

TRoS final count comp: 3.74M; adjusted: 3.23M

Black Widow Thursday Showings Denver

AMC Westminster 24

Total

349

1980

17.63%

AMC Highlands Ranch 24

Total

368

1939

18.98%

 

SEATS SOLD	SOLD PAST DAY	TOTAL SEATS	PERCENT SOLD	THEATERS	SHOWINGS
1643	59	21278	7.72%	15	112
$150 PWPs:	2
$200 PWPs:	0
$250 PWPs:	0
$300 PWPs:	0
Total	2

 

TLK final count comp: 4.19M; adjusted: 3.39M

TRoS final count comp: 3.88M; adjusted: 3.35M

[Inceptionzq]

23 hours ago, Inceptionzq said:

Black Widow Megaplex

 

T-15 days Thursday: 1973(+89)/21439 in 14 theaters. $27,622 with $14 ATP

 

T-16 days Friday: 1188(+74)/36370 in 14 theaters. $16,038 with $13.50 ATP

 

Possibly a nice Loki boost with the MCU on people's minds? Denver looks like it too

Black Widow Megaplex

 

T-14 days Thursday: 2030(+57)/21439 in 14 theaters. $28,420 with $14 ATP

 

T-15 days Friday: 1235(+47)/36370 in 14 theaters. $16,673 with $13.50 ATP