Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon” stayed No. 1 at the box office with $5.5 million from 2,163 locations in its second weekend and a 10-day domestic total of $15.8 million and $52.6 million globally. But a boost may be coming next week as theaters in Los Angeles have been given the clear to reopen.
A combination of increased vaccinations and lower COVID-19 infection and hospitalization rates has allowed L.A. County to move to the second tier of California’s reopening system, which permits movie theaters to open their doors with a 25% capacity limit. That milestone, along with reopenings in other major cities like New York, should be enough to push the number of open cinemas in the country to over 3,000 next week.
But for now, Comscore reports that the reopened theater count has actually decreased slightly from 2,848 last weekend to 2,713. This is attributed in part to some independently-owned cinemas temporarily closing again to mitigate operating costs until a major title arrives that owners believe can bring out moviegoers. That may be in two weeks with the release of Warner Bros.’ “Godzilla vs. Kong” in theaters and on HBO Max on March 25.
The rest of the weekend’s Top 5 remained the same as last weekend’s. Warner Bros.’ “Tom & Jerry” remains at No. 2 with $4.1 million from 2,434 locations in its third weekend and a domestic total of just under $26 million. Lionsgate’s “Chaos Walking” is in third with $2.25 million from 1,995 locations in its second weekend and a total of $6.9 million.
Grosses then sink below $1 million per film, with Focus Features’ “Boogie” in fourth with $730,000 from 1,272 screens and a $2.2 million total after 10 days. Universal’s long-lasting “The Croods: A New Age” completes the Top 5 with $530,000 and a domestic total of $54.3 million after four months in theaters.
Down in 10th place on the charts is Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Father,” an adaptation of Florian Zeller’s critically-acclaimed play about a man suffering from dementia. Directed by Zeller and starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman, the film was released at 900 locations this weekend and grossed $390,000. With a 99% Rotten Tomatoes score, the film is expected to be a contender in several major categories at the Oscars, which announces its nominations on Monday.
Finally, Disney reports that “Avatar,” which reclaimed the all-time box office crown from “Avengers: Endgame” on Saturday, earned $21.1 million from a re-release in China, making the 2009 James Cameron blockbuster the first non-Chinese film this year to lead the country’s box office charts. “Avatar” made $202 million in China during its initial run, then a huge number for the country. It has since been dwarfed by films like “Endgame” and the “Fast & Furious” films as China has developed into a box office titan during the 2010s. Disney now estimates the all-time gross total for “Avatar” at just over $2.8 billion.
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