North American box office silenced; ‘Mulan’ fails in China

Liu Yifei as Mulan

Moviegoers in North America aren’t rushing back to the movies just yet and “Mulan” is also failing to premiere in China as the global box office slowly comes back online in the COVID-19 era.

In the second major weekend for theaters in the US and Canada, Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” earned just $ 6.7 million from 2,910 locations, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

The Warner Bros. sci-fi thriller was seen as the main litmus test to determine whether audiences were ready to embrace the theatrical experience again, after nearly six months of theaters closed due to the pandemic.

While it was enough to overcome scattered domestic releases, it is also not enough to boost the struggling exhibition industry. Warner Bros. has already delayed its next big release, “Wonder Woman 1984.”

The only major novelty of the weekend was Sony’s PG-13 romantic comedy “The Broken Hearts Gallery,” which grossed an estimated $ 1.1 million at 2,204 North American locations.

The film, from first-time writer director Natalie Krinsky and executive produced by Selena Gomez, is about a 20-something gallerist played by Geraldine Viswanathan who creates an art display with memories of her past relationships.

The studio is optimistic about its performance and potential.

“The first few numbers are really encouraging,” said Adrian Smith, president of the president of national distribution for Sony Pictures.

Smith noted that the film will have a slow release as they continue to open more theaters in the US.

Approximately two thirds of the national market is open and cinemas operate with a limited capacity and with limited hours. Two of the largest markets in the country, New York and Los Angeles, remain closed. Other markets still closed include North Carolina, Michigan, New Mexico, and the cities of Seattle and Portland.

Other notable national weekend numbers include Disney’s “The New Mutants,” which added $ 2.1 million from 2,704 locations in its third weekend, and Solstice’s Russell Crowe film “Unhinged,” which earned an additional $ 1.5 million. in the fourth week.

“Every week is a litmus test of how potential viewers feel going to the movies,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s senior media analyst. “I think the public is slowly going backwards.”

But, he noted, “the rules of how we analyze or report the box office cannot be applied.”

Comscore has not even been able to report a traditional “Top 10” chart due to the unusual market that Dergarabedian likened to a “relaunch” or “reboot” of the cinema.

The picture is more encouraging internationally, where “Tenet” this weekend added more than $ 30 million, bringing its global total to $ 207 million.

But the new movies are not enough on their own. In China, The Walt Disney Co.’s “Mulan” had a disappointing debut of just $ 23.2 million.

However, the low release claimed the film the number one spot in the country, where an estimated 91% of theaters are open but limited to 50% capacity. The studio noted that its premiere is on the same level as “Cinderella” and “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.”

Worldwide, “Mulan” has earned $ 37.6 million to date, although that number is not representative of total earnings. The live-action epic, which has also been embroiled in a filming controversy, is not showing in North American theaters.

Instead, it’s available for a $ 29.99 rental on the company’s Disney + service. Streaming earnings are not available.
But pre-COVID success and failure metrics are difficult to apply, especially to the first movies that come out the door. And, according to Dergarabedian, it could be that way for a while.

“We are not in a traditional market and we are not in a traditional mode of analysis,” Dergarabedian said. “It’s going to take some time to properly assess the long-term impact of the pandemic.”

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