Box Office: Waves, Bridges, Queen
A24’s Waves opened the weekend of Nov. 15 with a total gross of $134,333 across four select theaters in New York and Los Angeles. Since, the Trey Edward Shults (Krisha, It Comes At Night) directed family drama has slowly expanded to 47 theaters nationwide and pulled in $564,640. With no expected international release, Waves isn’t projected to make a huge splash at the domestic box office. Similar to how they handle many of their other features, A24 isn’t more interested in Waves’ box office performance than it is with its longevity. The feature will be available to stream on Amazon Prime in the not so distant future and has gained some awards buzz, particularly around lead actor Sterling K. Brown. Shults’ third feature-length film is expected to continue a slow theatrical expansion throughout the month of December.
21 Bridges, which stars Black Panther lead Chadwick Boseman, hasn’t seen any huge box office returns since releasing on Nov. 21. After opening to 2,665 theaters, 21 Bridges grossed a modest $9,261,268 its opening weekend. STX Entertainment’s latest feature has since grossed $23,406,747 at the global box office — $20,676,747 of which was made domestically. As Frozen II continues to dominate the November box office, and with the release of Star Wars Rise of Skywalker looming in the middle of the month, chances are 21 Bridges’ theatrical popularity may be undercut rendering its chances at greatly surpassing its estimated $33 million budget.
Despite opening to about 1,000 less than 21 Bridges, Queen & Slim grossed a promising $8,440,000 during its Thanksgiving holiday debut. The Thelma & Louise-esque flick was penned by rising producer Lena Waithe and was the feature-length directorial debut of Melina Matsoukas. On its fifth date since release the Lena Waithe penned and Melina Mastsoukas directed feature has pulled in $19,490,160. Without an international market, it’s difficult to gauge if Queen & Slim will be able to earn a substantial profit off its estimated $15-17 million budget.
Parasite
Box Office Round Up: Parasite, the latest film from acclaimed Korean auteur Bong Joon-Ho, has continued to stir up the cinema world. Since expanding to the U.S. film market on Oct. 11, (initial release was May 30 in Korea) the Palme D’Or winning film has grossed $19,655,232 in the U.S. alone. Worldwide, Parasite has pulled in an estimated $117,305,014 million at the box office.
After opening with a surprising $20 million weekend from 4,242 theaters, Abonimable has continued its quiet run at the box office. It may not have been the most talked-about animated-feature film of 2019, but the DreamWorks title has pulled a little over $60 million at the domestic box office. The $75 million film which is inspired by Chinese culture, has grossed twice its budget with a worldwide gross of $175,496,165
Despite featuring Naomi Harris (Skyfall, Moonlight), Tyrese Gibson (The Fast & Furious Franchise) and Mike Colter (Luke Cage), Black and Blue has struggled to make any significant returns at the box office this season. At the closing stages of its theatrical release, the police drama has only grossed $22,444,428 worldwide— a small $644,342 of this sum is from international sales.
Gemini Man, Ang Lee’s latest feature which stars Will Smith, is nearing the end of its theatrical run with a worldwide gross of $172,966,909. This sum is certainly floating in “flop” territories considering the film cost an estimated $139 million.
Harriet nubbed $11,676,720 its opening weekend earlier last month and has continued its quiet theatrical run grossing a worldwide total of $40,111,835. With a small international release, Harriet isn’t projected to pull in any more significant returns at the box office. The features underwhelming performance might be due to its mixed reviews and backlash for casting Nigerian-British actress Cynthia Erivo.