The headlines of the holiday box office belonged to “Aquaman” while “Mary Poppins Returns” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” brought in family audiences. But farther down the charts, Clint Eastwood quietly left his own mark.
After opening a month ago to a $17.5 million launch, Warner Bros.’ “The Mule” has amassed a global total of $102 million against a budget of $50 million.
As a director, Eastwood has had several major hits this decade, the biggest being 2014’s highest grossing domestic release, “American Sniper.” He also found success with Tom Hanks on the biopic “Sully” in 2016. But he’s had some missteps too, namely “The 15:17 to Paris,” which only made $57 million worldwide against a $30 million production budget before marketing.
But “The Mule” is a different movie, because Eastwood is both in front of and behind the camera. It’s an actor-director combo that Eastwood hasn’t done since “Gran Torino” way back in 2008, and his first acting role since “Trouble With the Curve” six years ago. But when Eastwood does appear on the big screen, he can count on a devoted following of fans — mostly boomers — to show up to see him.
“For a generation, Clint Eastwood is The Man. There aren’t a lot of people in Hollywood these days at his age that have that must-see status,” comScore analyst Paul Dergarabedian told TheWrap last month.
According to data from Movio, “The Mule” had by far the the highest concentration of moviegoers over the age of 50 among the December wide releases. When drilling down into that age demographic, Movio found Eastwood’s recent films, including “Sniper” and “15:17,” were the most common films that had previously been seen in theaters by “The Mule”‘s audience. Other films commonly seen by the film’s audience were the WWII biopic “Hacksaw Ridge” and “A Star Is Born,” which was directed by “The Mule” co-star Bradley Cooper.
The film is also doing well with people who don’t regularly go to the movies. According to the audience survey, 21 percent of those who bought a ticket to “The Mule” see less than four films per year. For the average film, infrequent moviegoers account for 16 percent of the total audience.
At a time when recognizable brands are driving the upper echelons of the box office charts, Eastwood is proving to be a throwback to the times when actors were the main draw for moviegoers. On top of that, the film had the advantage of being released by Warner Bros., which in 2018 was able to do an excellent job of marketing their mid-budget fare to the specific demographics that would show up on opening weekend, particularly with films like “Ocean’s 8” and “Crazy Rich Asians.”
“WB did an excellent job handling this film,” said Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock. “It worked well as an adult alternative to the Christmas blockbusters, especially in parts of the country where it was the only major drama in theaters. Plus it had two stars in Eastwood and Cooper that are very popular with older audiences, so that just further increased the word of mouth.”
Top 10 Box Office Predictions for 2019 (Photos)
2019 has just gotten started, and it's already looking like it could very well bring a box office as big as 2018. That's thanks in large part to Disney, which is sporting six -- yes, SIX -- films that could make a bid to earn over $1 billion worldwide this year. That's why the company dominates our predictions for the top 10 highest global grossing films of 2019, including the top five slots.
Marvel Studios
10.) "Spider-Man: Far From Home" (July 5) -- Sony will get in on the Marvel Studios money train with this sequel to "Spider-Man: Homecoming," which made $880 million worldwide in 2017. With "The Lion King" hitting theaters two weeks after this film, it's possible that "Far From Home" could see a smaller total figure due to the competition. What could counter that is if "Avengers: Endgame" leaves an intriguing narrative thread for the (currently dead) Peter Parker to pick up, creating more interest among fans to see the first post-Thanos chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Marvel Studios
9.) "Captain Marvel" (March 8) -- Again, the connection to "Avengers" will play a factor here. Of the potential billion-dollar Disney releases, "Captain Marvel" seems the least likely simply because recent MCU films that introduce new heroes like "Doctor Strange" don't perform as well as the "Captain Americas" and "Avengers" of the franchise. "Black Panther" was the exception, but "Captain Marvel" isn't showing signs of the same cultural momentum. On the other hand, Carol Danvers is supposed to play a major role in "Endgame," so that might make this essential viewing for even casual MCU fans.
Disney/Marvel Studios
8.) "Jumanji 3" (December 13) -- "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" ended with the titular magical game being destroyed. But then the film made $962 million, so get ready for a plot loophole and a third jungle adventure. There's little reason to doubt that "Jumanji 3" will perform well again against "Star Wars." The question is whether the incredible chemistry between Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart and Jack Black will be enough to push this threequel even further and give Sony its second billion-dollar hit in the studio's history.
Sony
7.) "The Secret Life of Pets 2" (June 7) -- Illumination may not yet have Pixar's pedigree, but it is now a box office force beyond just the Minions. The first "Secret Life" was one of the top 10 films of 2016 with $875 million, and even though "Toy Story 4" comes out two weeks later, this sequel should have strong enough name recognition to have a solid hold with family audiences in June.
Universal/Illumination
6.) "Hobbs & Shaw" (August 2) -- The full name of this film is "Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw," and it's probably going to be essential for Universal to put this spinoff's connection to its car franchise right in the title. The last "F&F" film, "The Fate of the Furious," made $1 billion in overseas grosses alone, and Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham have become as strong a draw as Vin Diesel and the franchise's original cast. Now it's time to see if Dominic Toretto and the Family can be removed from the equation without a drop in the numbers.
Universal
5.) "Star Wars: Episode IX" (December 20) -- This will be the most scrutinized release of the year. After "Solo" became one of the biggest disappointments of 2018, there will be many eyes on the final chapter of the Rey/Finn "Star Wars" trilogy and how it performs compared to the polarizing "Last Jedi." The popularity of both the old and new characters should push "Episode IX" back to $1 billion. But films like "Jumanji 3" show other studios aren't afraid of "Star Wars" anymore, and the standard of success for the godfather of movie franchises is higher than any other.
Disney/Lucasfilm
4.) "Toy Story 4" (June 21) -- Can you believe it's been nine years since "Toy Story 3" grossed $1 billion and earned a Best Picture nomination? Much like "Incredibles 2" last year, Buzz and Woody's fourth adventure should score a huge opening weekend. But word-of-mouth will determine how the film performs going into a July with "Far From Home" and "Lion King."
Disney/Pixar
3.) "Frozen 2" (November 22) -- Six years after its release, "Frozen" has become the Disney classic for Gen Z in much the same way the Disney Renaissance and Pixar formed the childhood memories of countless Gen Xers and Millennials. Released ahead of Thanksgiving weekend, the sequel should hit theaters with overwhelming hype and a chance to pass the original's $1.27 billion global total.
Disney
2.) "The Lion King" (July 19) -- Nostalgia for "Beauty and the Beast" pushed its 2017 remake to $1.26 billion worldwide. "The Lion King" arguably has an even bigger nostalgia factor...and this remake has Beyonce and Childish Gambino in it. With no major family-film competition from mid-July through the end of the summer, this film is going to make incredible amounts of money.
Disney
1.) "Avengers: Endgame" (April 26) -- Is there any real doubt? Marvel has left its fans babbling about the "snap" since "Infinity War" came out last April, and every single one of them will be back in theaters to see how Captain Marvel and the remaining Avengers warp time and space to undo Thanos' genocide. The question isn't whether "Endgame" will be the top box office hit of 2019, but whether it will beat the $2.04 billion global total made by "Infinity War" or its record $257.4 domestic opening.
Disney/Marvel Studios
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Just like 2018, Disney is going to be all over this year’s box office
2019 has just gotten started, and it's already looking like it could very well bring a box office as big as 2018. That's thanks in large part to Disney, which is sporting six -- yes, SIX -- films that could make a bid to earn over $1 billion worldwide this year. That's why the company dominates our predictions for the top 10 highest global grossing films of 2019, including the top five slots.