With ‘The Batman’ in the Wings, ‘Uncharted’ and ‘Dog’ Lead the Box Office

Next week and not a minute too soon, Warner Bros. will open “The Batman.” With no new major titles, grosses this weekend totaled $63 million.

In 2020, when business operated as usual through February, only two weekends grossed under $100 million. The worst was Super Bowl weekend at $80 million. This year has had no weekend over $100 million, but that will change next week. “The Batman” opening will be the year’s first major breakout with $125 million or more. It isn’t likely to reach the heights of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” but it is critically important that it exhibit serious heft to restore much-needed momentum for theaters’ recovery.

The weekend represented 65 percent of the same weekend in 2020, but even that represents an improvement over much of 2022. Our rolling four-week comparison to 2020 rose to 63 percent.

Sony’s “Uncharted” dropped 47 percent and United Artists’ “Dog” dropped 32 percent, holding the top two slots. This is a strong performance; most films that opened over $40 million in the past two years fell more than 50 percent week two.

That’s a bit surprising considering the weaker B+ Cinemascore reported for “Uncharted,” but it reflects the dearth of alternatives. The “Dog” performance reflects its early enthusiastic response (and A- Cinemascore) suggests a sustained run. Both “Uncharted” and “Dog” appear to be on the path to profit.

“Studio 666” (Open Road), a low-budget horror comedy from the Foo Fighters, was the sole wide new release and managed less than $1.6 million in 2,306 theaters, showing the limits of the public’s hunger for fresh films.

Meanwhile, Paramount’s 1972 “The Godfather” returned in a limited, 156-theater release gross an impressive $900,000. Based on theatrical spot checks, that included many sellouts — even more impressive with a three-hour running time that meant three showtimes per day. Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece has now grossed an adjusted $722.9 million domestic since its initial release 50 years ago.

Some context: “Spider-Man: “No Way Home” is now at $780 million domestic and stands at #23 at the all-time adjusted box office. “The Godfather” is #26. It dropped only 23 percent this weekend for third place, continuing its incredible run and heading to the $800 million we predicted several weeks ago. Its staying power isn’t a record — “Titanic” held first place for 13 weeks in 1997-1998 — but is by far the best in recent years.

Other than Universal’s “Marry Me,” everything else in the top 10 dropped less than 40 percent. Even the mediocre performance of Disney’s “Death on the Nile” had only a 31 percent drop.

The annual presentation of Oscar-nominated short films from ShortTV grossed $402,000 in 355 theaters. In pre-Covid 2020, the program grossed over $1.1 million in 465 locations. This year, the collection will have an extended window as a theatrical exclusive.

The Top Ten

1. Uncharted (Sony) Week 2; Last weekend #1

$23,250,000 (-47%) in 4,275 (no change) theaters; PTA: $5,439; Cumulative: $83,385,000

2. Dog (United Artists) Week 2; Last weekend #2

$10,128,000 (-32%) in 3,827 (+150) theaters; PTA: $2,646; Cumulative: $30,899,000

3. Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony) Week 11; Last weekend #3

$5,750,000 (-23%) in 3002 (+46) theaters; PTA: $1,915; Cumulative: $779,887,000

4. Death on the Nile (Disney) Week 3; Last weekend #4

$4,500,000 (-31%) in 3,420 (+140) theaters; PTA: $1,316; Cumulative: $32,755,000

5. Jackass Forever (Paramount) Week 4; Last weekend #5

$3,175,000 (-39%) in 2,913 (-158) theaters; PTA: $1,090; Cumulative: $52,070,000

6. Sing 2 (Universal) Week 10; Last weekend #7; also on VOD

$2,110,000 (-26%) in 2,382 (-94) theaters; PTA: $886; Cumulative: $151,204,000

7. Marry Me (Universal) Week 3; Last weekend #6; also streaming on Peacock

$1,850,000 (-50%)  in 3,110 (-533) theaters; PTA: $595; Cumulative: $20,214,000

8. Studio 666 (Open Road) NEW –  Metacritic: 49

$1,580,000 in 2,306 theaters; PTA: $685; Cumulative: $1,580,000

9. Cyrano (United Artists) NEW –  Metacritic: 68; Est. budget: $30 million

$1,400,000 in 797 theaters; PTA: $1,757,000; Cumulative: $1,400,000

10. Scream (Paramount) Week 7; Last weekend #8

$1,345,000 (-31%) in 1,566 (-341) theaters; PTA: $859; Cumulative: $79,221,000

Additional specialized/limited/independent releases 

2002 Oscar Shorts (ShortsTV) NEW

$402,200 in 355 theaters; PTA: $1,133

Butter (Blue Fox) NEW – Metacritic:; Festivals include:

$78,450 in 308 theaters; PTA: $255

The Godfather (Paramount) REISSUE

$900,000 in 156 theaters; PTA: $; Cumulative: $722,906,000

The Automat (Slice of Pie) –  Week 2

$13,665 in 3 theaters; PTA: $4,555; Cumulative: $38,837

The Worst Person in the World (Neon) – Week 4

$421,672 in 554 (+289) theaters;  Cumulative: $1,825,000

Parallel Mothers (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 10

$70,586 in 83 (-60) theaters; Cumulative: $1,914,000

Nightmare Alley (Searchlight) Week 10; also on PVOD

$29,000 in 265 (+15) theaters; Cumulative: $11,175,000

Drive My Car (Janus) Week 12

$148,227 in 162 (-51) theaters; Cumulative: $1,838,000

Licorice Pizza (United Artists) Week 14  1370

$355,756 in 607 (-700) theaters; Cumulative: $16,120,000

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