Signs of life
During the peak of COVID-19, the US box office didn't just slow down — it completely disappeared. So it's somewhat comforting to see that on May 28th A Quiet Place Part II, the sequel to the successful horror film from 2018, managed to rack up almost $20m on its opening day, and more than $57m over the course of the entire Memorial Day Weekend.
Thanks to data from Box Office Mojo we've charted the biggest film at the box office on every day since the start of 2020. A Quiet Place Part II has had the biggest day (and weekend) of any film since the start of the pandemic, ahead of Godzilla vs. Kong, which managed just shy of $13m on its biggest day and way ahead of Tenet ($5m biggest day) and Wonder Woman 1984 ($7.5m biggest day).
To stream, or not to stream
For the movie industry, the success of A Quiet Place Part II will give confidence that the cinemagoing public are keen to get back in front of the big screen. However, it also raises the question — particularly for box office giant Disney — about how best to release movies in a post-pandemic world.
Cruella, which is Disney's modern reimagining of Cruella de Vil from 101 Dalmatians also released last weekend, managing a respectable $26.5m over the 4 days. Interestingly, Cruella was simultaneously released on Disney+ where viewers could pay a $30 fee to watch from the comfort of their own home. So far it's not obvious what the right balance is between straight-to-streaming, straight-to-box-office or some combination of the two.
