Frozen Empire’ Makes $4.7M In Previews

SATURDAY AM: Despite “Marchmellow” weather in the Northeast and a B+ CinemaScore, Sony‘s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is expected to still reach an opening between $42M-$44M this weekend after a $16M Friday. PLFs and some of the Imax are accounting for 36% of box right now. Frozen Empire, which cost more than Ghostbusters: Afterlife, $100M to $75M before P&A, is co-financed by TSG.

By the way, that B+ CinemaScore is the same grade as the all female 2016 Ghostbusters. This should be a wakeup call for Sony on the goody goody family nature tone of this franchise and its longevity moving forward. More on that later.

There are heavy rains along the Atlantic Coast from Washington D.C. up through Vermont with flood watches in effect, however, no significant cinema closures are expected.

Overall the box office with $97.6M is expected to be off -17% from the same weekend a year ago as that’s when Lionsgate’s roared with John Wick: Chapter 4, which posted the highest opening in the franchise with $73.8M and led the marketplace to $116.6M.

Updated PostTrak exits from ComScore and Screen Engine are 80% positive on the Gil Kenan directed sequel with a 64% definite recommend. Grades are lower among kids versus Afterlife at 89% postive and a 57% must see right away.

Male leaning of course at 55% with 46% of the crowd between 25-44 years old with another 30% of the audience 13-24 years old and the largest quad a tie between 18-24 and 25-34 years old at 23%. Diversity demos are 48% Caucasian, 27% Latino and Hispanic, 12% Black, 8% Asian and 5% Native American. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is playing best in the South, South Central and Midwest. Top grossing cinema in the nation so far is AMC Disney Springs in Orlando FL with over $50K.

NEON’s Sydney Sweeney nun horror movie, Immaculate, did $2M yesterday for what’s shaping up to be a $5M opening in fourth place. CinemaScore is a C which is par for a horror movie (they get B and C CinemaScores). PostTrak is significantly lower at 52% positive and a 30% definite recommend. Euphoria crowd is coming out at 52% female with 75% of the audience between 18-34. Largest demo is 25-34 at 39%. Diversity demos were 44% Caucasian, 30% Latino and Hispanic, 11% Black, 10% Asian, and 5% Native American/other. Best markets are the East, South Central and West with the AMC Burbank the pic’s top grossing cinema stateside at $15,3K. Elevation has Canada. The movie, which was co-financed by Black Bear, and a passion project produced by Sweeney, cost under $10M. It’s a P&A deal for NEON. The release model for this horror movie is very similar to what Blumhouse use to execute with its microbudget BH Tilt movies.

IFC’s has the other specialty horror film on the marquee, Late Night With the Devil at 1,034 locations which posted a $1.1M Friday, 3-day heading to $2.9M. Solid numbers in NYC, Toronto, Salt Lake City, Edmonton, Dallas, San Antonio and LA.

Disney has Pixar’s Luca, which was previously relegated to Disney+, in theaters, but similar to the other Pixar re-releases this year (Turning Red, Soul), there was no muscle behind these in marketing. The Italian-set animated movie did $150K yesterday at 1,390 for what will be a very underwhelming $510K or $367 per theater.

The chart:

1.) Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Sony) 4,345 theaters, Fri $16M, 3-day $42M-$44M/Wk 1

2.) Dune: Part Two (Leg/WB) 3,437 theaters (-410), Fri $4.5M (-44%), 3-day $16M (-44%)/Total $231.7M/Wk 4

3.) Kung Fu Panda 4 (Uni/DWA) 3,805 (-262) theaters, Fri $4M (-54%), 3-day $14.5M (-52%), Total $130.9M/Wk 3

4.) Immaculate (NEON) 2,354 theaters, Fri $2M, 3-day $5M/Wk 1

5.)Arthur the King (LG) 3,003 theaters, Fri $1.1M (-61%), 3-day $4M (-48%), Total $14.2M/Wk 2

6.) Late Night With the Devil (IFC),1034 theaters Fri $1.1M, 3-day $2.9M/Wk 1

7.) Imaginary (LG) 2,513 theaters (-605), Fri $755K (-55%) 3-day $2.5M (-55%), Total $23.3M /Wk 3

8.) Love Lies Bleeding (A24) 1,828 theaters (+466) Fri $484K (-56%), 3-day $1.5M (-40%), Total $5.5M/Wk 3

9.) Cabrini (Angel) 1,765 (-1,085) theaters, Fri $410K (-51%) 3-day $1.37M (-51%) Total $16.1M/Wk 3

10.) Bob Marley: One Love (Par) 1,266 theaters (-1066) Fri $295K (-57%), 3-day $1.02M (-55%), Total $95.2M/Wk 6

HoldoversOne Life (BST) 1,009 (+26) theaters, Fri $290K (-63%), 3-day $960K (-44%)/Total $3.4M/Wk 2

The American Society of Magical Negroes (Foc) 1,153 (+6) theaters, Fri $120K (-76%), 3-day $400K (-69%)/Total $2.1M/Wk 2

FRIDAY PM: As of right now, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is looking all right with a $16M Friday and $42M-$43M opening at 4,345 theaters. That Friday is on par with Ghostbusters: Afterlife‘s first day (plus previews) of $16.6M, and should that 3-day keep up, it will only be a $1M shy of the 2021 Jason Reitman directed title.

In second is the fourth weekend of Legendary/Warner Bros’ Dune: Part Two at 3,437 theaters with an estimated $4.6M, -43% for a 3-day of $16.9M and a running total of $232.6M.

Third belongs to Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s third frame of Kung Fu Panda 4 at 3,805 theaters with a Friday of $4.3M, -51%, and 3-day of $15.3M, -49%, and running total by EOD Sunday of $131.7M.

The NEON, Sydney Sweeney nun horror movie, Immaculate, is seeing an estimated $1.8M-$2.2M Friday, and $5M opening at 2,354 sites. Black Bear financed and produced the movie for under $10M. Black Bear is handling the UK release of the film with Elevation releasing the pic in Canada.

Lionsgate’s second frame of Arthur the King at 3,003 theaters is looking at fifth after a second Friday of $1.2M, -60%, and a 3-day of $4.1M, -46%, and a ten-day gross of $14.3M.

IFC has the David Dastmalchian 1977-set horror movie, Late Night With the Devil, which world premiered a year ago at SXSW, which is seeing $1.3M today for $3.3M opening at 1,034 locations. The Cameron and Colin Cairness-directed horror pic follows a live television broadcast in 1977 which goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms. Critics love it on Rotten Tomatoes at 96% certified fresh and an 86% audience score.

FRIDAY AM: Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Sony’s sequel to Jason Reitman’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife, took in $4.7M from Thursday night previews that began at 2 p.m. at 3,561 theaters.

That total is close to the $4.5M previews of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which opened heading into the pre-Thanksgiving 2021 frame when audiences were still shaking off Covid fears. Thursday night’s cash also is higher than the previews of Paul Feig’s 2016 all-female Ghostbusters, which did $3.4M (and opened to $46M). Those showtimes began at 4 p.m. and resulted in a $16.6M Friday and $44M opening weekend. I’m told from sources that Frozen Empire will require a lot of walk-up business to get to that level as presales for some exhibitors were low.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire received four stars from the Thursday night audience, which always is filled with die-hard fans, with a 80% positive and a 66% definite recommend. Mostly men showed up at 55%, and they were the pic’s harshest critics at 76% positive, with women at 45% with a better 85% grade. Breaking that down, men over 25 — Thursday night’s biggest quad at 43% — gave the movie a 79% grade, while men under 25, who repped 12% of ticketbuyers, loathed the movie at 68%.

On Afterlife, families and the middle of the country propped grosses. Close to a third of that audience was families with parents, who awarded Afterlife five stars with kids under 12 at 4½. Rotten Tomatoes critics gave Afterlife, which was directed by Jason Reitman, 64% positive while audiences graded it 94%. Frozen Empire out of the gate is lower with 45% Rotten in reviews, and 86% with RT audiences.

Directed by Gil Kenan, the writer of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the sequel cost $100M. This Ghostbusters easily will put the five-movie franchise over $1 billion. That might or might not be this weekend, as Frozen Empire could underperform.

We’re waiting on preview figures for Neon’s Sydney Sweeney movie Immaculate, but in the meantime, PostTrak audiences didn’t like it last night at 2½ stars and 60% positive. Critics didn’t mind it at 78% positive. We’re seeing projections now for the nun horror movie, which world premiered out of SXSW, in the mid-single digits.

RELATED: ‘Immaculate’ Review: Sydney Sweeney-Led Religious Horror Movie Overshadowed By Overplayed Tropes – SXSW

Legendary/Warner Bros’ Dune: Part Two won the night among regular releases with $2.2M at 3,847, -23% from Wednesday and a third week of $39.5M and running total of $215.7M. The pic will keep its Imax screens into weekend 4, sharing them with Frozen Empire.

RELATED: ‘Dune: Part Two’ Review: Denis Villeneuve’s Spectacular Sequel Goes Heavy On The Mythos

Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4 at 4,067 sites made $1.7M, -10% from Wednesday, for a $38.7M second week and running total of $116.4M.

RELATED: ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ Review: Jack Black Is Back As Lovable Dragon Warrior On A New Mission In This Winning DreamWorks Sequel

Fathom busted its way into the chart midweek with two releases. Faith-based documentary The Ark and the Darkness did $750K on Wednesday and another $955K yesterday for a running total of $1.7M at 1,010 theaters. The Ralph Stearn-directed docu centers on Noah’s Ark and scientific evidence supporting the biblical tale. Fathom also had the remastered Hal Needham-directed 1986 BMX movie Rad booked at 707 locations, and it did $508K yesterday.

RELATED: ‘Arthur The King’ Review: Mark Wahlberg And A Scrappy New Dog Star Make This Remarkable True Story Come To Cinematic Life

Lionsgate/eOne’s Mark Wahlberg canine sports film, Arthur the King, playing at 3,003 theaters, did an estimated $477K yesterday, -13% from Wednesday, ending its first week with $10.2M.

Check back later today for updates.