Perhaps it’s the Oppenheimer effect or just the pedigree of the Martin Scorsese-Leonardo DiCaprio-Robert De Niro combo, but the three-and-half-hour period drama Killers of the Flower Moon had a killer opening with $23 million. But it wasn’t enough to dethrone Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour which continues its weekends-only run in its second frame, grossing $32M.
The Eras Tour opened last weekend to $92.8M, making it the highest-grossing concert film of all time in just three days. It took a pretty hefty 66% drop, but that’s mainly because this picture was sold as an event and fans wanted to see it on opening weekend.
But there were fans who weren’t able to get first-weekend tickets and others who wanted to see it but didn’t want to experience it in a rowdy audience of teenage girls dancing in the aisles and singing along to every song. So they waited for the sophomore frame.
The Eras Tour is supposed to screen for a couple more weekends but ultimately, it doesn’t look like this will have legs. But it doesn’t matter. Once again, this is already the highest-grossing concert film of all time and we all know Swift doesn’t need the money. But there has been no mention of this being released on digital, much less streaming, so if you want to make sure you see The Eras Tour, the safest bet is to try and catch it in theaters.
Killers of the Flower Moon is based on a best-selling non-fiction book by David Grann about the murders of members of the Native American Osage Nation in the 1920s after oil was discovered on their land. Once again, like Oppenheimer, this is a dark subject and Flower Moon is even longer, so this opening is extremely good, although it doesn’t come close to Oppenheimer’s $82.4M debut.
But that was in the summer and there was the whole Barbenheimer phenomenon. Maybe if Flower Moon had opened last weekend there would have been a similar effect with The Eras Tour. Maybe #ErasoftheFlowerMoon?
In addition to the star power behind this, part of the success of Flower Moon is the fact that, as is typical of Scorsese, this is an excellent film, earning an A- from exiting audiences via CinemaScore, 88% positive and 4½ stars via PostTrak. On Rotten Tomatoes, its audience score is 84% and its critical score is 92%.
This is definitely headed toward several Academy Award nominations. Should Lily Gladstone get a nod (and she will), she will be the first Native American woman in contention for an acting category.
Elsewhere on the charts, with Halloween fast approaching, Disney has re-released The Nightmare Before Christmas in theaters and it did well enough to crack the Top Five, earning $4.3M.
And speaking of Halloween, The Exorcist: Believer hangs on at #3 this weekend, despite being panned across the board. It notched another $5.1M, bringing its running domestic total to $53.7M.
And finally, Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie landed at #4 with an additional $5M.
Here is the Top Five:
- Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (AMC) – 3-day $32M/ Total $130.7M/ Wk 2
- Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple/Paramount) – 3-day $23M/ Wk 1
- The Exorcist: The Believer (Universal) – 3-day $5.1M/ Total $53.7M/ Wk 3
- Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie (Paramount) – 3-day $5M/ Total $56.6M/ Wk 4
- The Nightmare Before Christmas (reissue) (Disney) – 3-day $4.3M/ Total lifetime $81.6M / Wk 1
One of the most boneheaded decisions a studio has made in quite a while was when Disney opted to put out The Haunted Mansion in July. Audiences — ALL audiences — want spooky fare with Halloween coming up. The majority of the recent releases have been strictly for adults including The Exorcist: Believer, Saw X, and The Nun II. The box office really could have benefitted from a more family-friendly entry.
There is one last Halloween flick set to premiere next weekend, and while it may not exactly be family-friendly, it’s at least not as graphic as the other horror pics that have been released so far this month and that’s Five Nights at Freddy’s, based on the popular video game.
This is a spoof of sorts of the Chuck E. Cheese and ShowBiz Pizza Place restaurants that used to thrive in the 1980s and, at least in the case of Chuck E. Cheese, still exist today. The Five Nights games are known for leaning into the creepiness of the animatronic entertainers and, of course, the jump scares.
This movie has taken YEARS to get made and has passed through many hands. Unfortunately, the outcome doesn’t look good. It will be released simultaneously in theaters and on Peacock. We’re kind of past the pandemic. There’s no need to release anything day-and-date anymore… unless it sucks. AND, the critical review embargo doesn’t lift until 3:00 am Friday — AFTER the movie opens for preview screenings on Thursday.
Takeaway: This movie is TERRIBLE and Universal doesn’t want anyone to know until they can at least scrape up a few dollars.
Will you spend one night at Five Nights at Freddy’s? Are there any more releases coming soon that you want to check out?
