The latest attempt at jumpstarting the “Ghostbusters” franchise, “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” debuted to an estimated $44 million domestically this weekend. It added another $16 million internationally, bringing its total gross for its first week up to $60 million. The last attempt at a sequel to the franchise, “Ghostbusters” (2016), debuted slightly higher with $46,018,755, but “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” is seemingly more crowd-pleasing, with a 96% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes compared to a 49% for the 2016 movie. All of this was enough to end the short-lived reign of “Eternals” atop the box office which still scored in the double-digit millions with $10,825,000 in its third weekend. “Eternals” also passed the $200 million mark internationally this weekend.
“No Time To Die” was the second-biggest story of the weekend. It finally passed “F9” as the highest-grossing Hollywood movie of the pandemic. The only two movies ahead of Bond’s latest outing are “The Battle at Lake Changjin” and “Hi, Mom,” which have both grossed over $820 million each while only being released in a total of three different markets; Australia, Hong Kong, and New Zealand. “No Time To Die” is still around $18 million short of the domestic total of “F9,” though they win the overall battle by being the highest-grossing Hollywood film during the pandemic.
Will Smith and his best chance at an Oscar, “King Richard,” debuted to $5.7 million domestically while simultaneously being released on HBO Max. The film had a reported budget of $50 million, but an $8.2 million debut (when taking international totals into consideration) is a good start for a drama that was also available on streaming.
Two small independent films, “India Sweets and Spices” and “C’mon C’mon,” were also released. The former made $172,597 in 343 theaters, while the latter made $134,447 but in only five theaters. That means “C’mon C’mon” was likely only released in the two major markets, New York City and Los Angeles, and maybe another theater or two outside of that. We have interviews with the star of “India Sweets and Spices,” Sophia Ali, and “C’mon C’mon” director, MIke Mills.
Finally, “Last Night in Soho” was pulled from 928 theaters this week as it became available to rent on VOD. It’s a shame, but the film should be able to top $10 million domestically if it stays in a comparable amount of theaters next week (389).
Get ready; as the Thanksgiving holiday weekend also brings new movies. “House of Gucci,” Disney’s “Encanto,” and “Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City” are all being released on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving while Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” has its limited release coming on Black Friday. Japenese awards darling, “Drive My Car” will also have a limited release. So enjoy the time with your family, go Black Friday shopping, watch football, but a night At The Movies may also be a good move to make.
