The Memorial Day weekend is traditionally considered to be one of the most important dates for Hollywood, designating the beginning of the summer movie season. But the picture of this year’s box office tells a sad story to those who love watching movies. George Miller’s highly anticipated prequel, ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’, and the family-friendly ‘The Garfield Movie’ are neck and neck, but not in the way that fans of either would have wanted. They predict that the two movies will generate between $31 million and $33 million over the four-day holiday, which could be the worst Memorial Day No. 1 opening since ‘Casper’ in 1995.
Furiosa, directed by George Miller and featuring Anya Taylor-Joy as a younger version of Charlize Theron’s character from ‘Mad Max: Fury Road,’ had high expectations. Originally expected to start the weekend with $40 million to $45 million, it struggled and collected only $10. 2 million from 3,804 theaters. Nonetheless, ‘Furiosa’ opened with a rather modest B+ CinemaScore, suggesting that the new film failed to fully capture the hearts of the fans.
On the other side, ‘The Garfield Movie’ which was produced by Sony and Alcon also failed to achieve the targeted revenue collection and was able to collect only $8. 4 million on Friday from 4,035 theaters. Thus, it is rather concerning that it failed to do well considering its potential as a family movie. Moreover, with the B+ CinemaScore, ‘Garfield’ has not only failed to impress the critics, but also the audience.
Thus, this year’s Memorial Day box office is expected to set a record of $125 million, which will be the lowest figure in the last 25 years. This was significantly lower than in the previous years, which testify to the fact that the industry continues to have certain difficulties. Due to the effects of the pandemic and the aftermath of last year’s labor strikes, the series of major releases has shifted considerably. For instance, Marvel’s animated feature ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ which was expected to be the first summer movie was moved to the late July due to some production issues.
As for faith-based, ‘Sight,’ produced by Angel Studios, seems likely to gross only $4 million, other holdovers like Paramount’s ‘IF’ and Disney’s ‘The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ are experiencing moderate success, but which, again, does not help the box office to ultimately recover during the summer.
It is disappointing to see such popular film franchises fail, but it serves as a reminder that the movie business can be fickle. For cinephiles, one only wonders if future films will be able to retry the box office and encourage people to go back to watching movies in theaters. While we eagerly await the next popular films, we cherish the moments lived through the cinematic experience and the desire for more.
