It is terribly excruciating to see the box office fumble to these types of lows in the comings of a new year. No Spider-Man: No Way Home or Avatar: The Way or Water or Jumanji: The Next Level savior this time; limp noodles galore, it seems. The newly released $200 million-budgeted Apple original being distributed by Universal is in the same boat as Napoleon and Killers of the Flower Moon from last year. While not playing by the same confinements as “solely make money in theaters,” Argylle is a poorly-received bust of a blockbuster that will not set up a franchise (unless ice-cold legs turn out to be a winning scenario as we await Dune: Part Two).
A dismal $18 million in North America, coupled with a mere $17.3 million overseas, brings the new blockbuster a $35.3 million global debut. Even with the star power of Samuel L. Jackson, Henry Cavill, and Bryan Cranston, this couldn’t battle the poor reviews (including a C+ from CinemaScore). If a legacy studio delivered this, we’d be declaring it a box office bomb and moving along to the next feature in line. However, coming from a deep-pocketed streamer complicates the tale of how we’ll assess its theatrical run. Apple will not want to continue having its name etched on properties doomed at the box office, even when some are getting nominated for the Oscars. Director Matthew Vaughn has been on a losing spree with making a quality product since (arguably) Kingsman: The Secret Service a decade ago, and he doesn’t mind getting too “meta” for this action comedy that spirals into chaotic storytelling and plot twists (dear god, M. Night Shyamalan save us!).
For it to break even at $500 million worldwide is something all studios could dream of for a new blockbuster. Good luck to Universal and Apple trying to justify this; another prime example of Hollywood kneecapping their products in a time that begs for some momentum.
The Chosen: Season 4 – Episodes 1-3 opened to $6 million; Fathom Events is rolling out this season exclusively in cinemas for two-week runs of episodes before episodes 4-8 join the club later in the month. The historical drama series directed by Dallas Jenkins appeals to religious demographics as it jumps headfirst into the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. The Beekeeper continues to leg well for a quiet box-office run, giving Jason Statham more big bucks as he awaits his subsequent call for the following action film. It has already passed $100 million globally and passed Transporter 2, making this his biggest (non-IP) movie outside of the Meg series. Maybe we should be awaiting more stings, assuming a sequel is announced(?).
Wonka continues its holiday legs, earning $4.765 million in its eighth weekend, allowing it to pass $200 million domestically. $600 million worldwide isn’t a high possibility, but with the state of no significant releases, maybe it could reach that line once February wraps up. Mean Girls will pass $100 million worldwide sometime this week, and Anyone But You has passed $150 million globally.
Next weekend, we will see the release of Lisa Frankenstein, Upgraded, Suncoast, and Air Force One Down. Maybe Madame Web will give some jolts on the 14th?
