Fall Box Office Review: A Season of Flops
Queen & SliM
Apart from a few smaller sleeper hits which released earlier this season, POC films were not successful at the box office. Many of the films noted in this review simply 1) could not compete with the season's franchise titles (Joker, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Frozen II, Jumanji: The Next Level) released on or around their same debut weekends or 2) struggled to individualize themselves in a market flooded with recycled material.
This fall, true auteurs and A-List actors bit the dust at the box office, a couple of police dramas' commercial failures demonstrated just how antiquated the sub-genre has become, and one biopic may have also illustrated the clear fatigue of Oscar-bait historical dramas. At the same time, on-screen and behind the camera female diversity showcased its clear diversity, a heart-tugging animated feature shocked the September box office, and Korean auteur Bong Joon-Ho shook up U.S. audiences— and the domestic box office—with his latest feature.
September was full of surprises
On paper the September box office clearly belonged to Brad Pitt, Ad Astra more specifically, and It: Chapter Two. Sylvester’s Stallone’s Rambo: Last Blood and Downton Abbey were also huge contenders at the September box office. It was September’s biggest film and situated right behind it was Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers. Starring Jennifer Lopez (arguably her best career performance) and Constance Wu (Crazy Rich Asians, Fresh Off the Boat, Hustlers had a huge $33 million opening weekend across 3,250 theaters nationwide. Scafaria’s directorial debut went on to gross $155,950, 679 worldwide ($104, 950, 679 domestically) off its modest $20 million budget.
Abominable, September’s eight highest-grossing film, was not hugely profitable— it grossed $176 million off a $75 million budget—but was the top feature its opening weekend with $21 million beating out Judy.
Justin Chon’s Ms. Purple only expanded to about 23 theaters and grossed $80, 657. The independent feature, about two Asian-American siblings caring for the near-death single father, is available to stream for purchase on Amazon.
Parasite was the October release to see
Parasite fever has been spreading since releasing at Cannes Film Festival in May of this year, and finally caught U.S. audiences in early October. Korean auteur Bong Joon-Ho’s riveting and near-universal examination of class war released in the U.S. on Oct. 11. After a modest $393,216 debut weekend gross across only three theaters, Parasite expanded nationwide and has since raked in a little $20 million at the domestic box office. Worldwide, Joon-Ho’s latest feature has earned a modest $121,767,938.
Also released in October was Ang Lee’s Gemini Man and police drama Black & Blue. Even with A-List actor Will Smith as the star, Gemini Man struggled to find audiences throughout the duration of its short-lived wide-theatrical run. Despite its promising $20 million opening weekend, Lee’s film only pulled in $173 million worldwide hardly surpassing its $138 million budget.
Black & Blue, which featured well-known stars such as Tyrese Gibson and Naomi Harris, was certainly the Fall season’s quietest release. The small $12 million budget feature could barely compete against October’s widely popular Joker reboot and grossed only $22 million worldwide.
November was a month of flops
21 Bridges
Harriet, Waves, 21 Bridges, and Queen & Slim never found a late Fall audience. Kasi Lemmon’s Harriet could not surmount its backlash of casting Nigerian-British actress Cynthia Erivo as the eponymous female lead. The Focus Features’ film was the second-highest opening film its opening night at $3 million but failed to find its legs throughout November. After a very compressed theatrical run, Harriet could only pull in about $42,010,815 worldwide.
A24, now routinely, released Waves, another amazing feature which was not too concerned with finding any huge box office success. Longevity, cinematic expression and curating a unique film catalog has been A24’s goal for the entirety of this decade. After expanding to a mere 540 theaters, Waves was able to gross a humble $1,420, 191. Along with Hustlers and Parasite, the A24 title is sure to see recognition this coming awards season.
Chadwick Boseman’s 21 Bridges was another November released box office flop. The Black Panther lead’s latest film could not find an audience this late into the season after grossing a whelming $37,991,855 off an estimated $33 million budget.
Lastly, Queen & Slim was one of November’s more anticipated releases and made quite a splash throughout its Thanksgiving debut weekend grossing about $11 million. Since, the Melina Matsoukas directed, and Lena Waithe penned film was only able to rake in $33 million worldwide. As its theatrical expansion is already slowing down, this figure does not look too promising for Queen & Slim.