Box Office Report For February 21-23

Overall North American box office revenues are projected to fall 40% from last weekend as the coronavirus pandemic hits hard and health officials urge social distancing.

As the coronavirus pandemic brings moviegoing to a halt in multiple countries, it’s slowing down attendance at North American multiplexes. 

Vin Diesel’s superhero movie “Bloodshot” launched respectably for Sony Pictures, with $1.2 million at 2,631 North American locations during Thursday night previews.

By Anthony D'Alessandro

Three new movies will hit theaters on Friday, but likely none will be able to dethrone the reigning box office champ, “Onward.” Disney’s animated fantasy adventure debuted to $39 million last weekend, a lackluster result for a Pixar film, but enough to dominate the competition.

In today’s film news roundup, “The Invisible Man” hits a milestone; “Kajillionaire,” “Come Play” and “Green Rush” get release dates; and Jack Eve’s romantic drama “Open” wraps shooting.

The Korean box office hit rock bottom this weekend due to coronavirus that is fast spreading in the country. According to KOBIS, the box-office tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council, the country’s box office managed some 230,803 ticket sales between Saturday and Sunday. That is lower than the previous weekend’s 285,663 admissions and is not even half the sales managed over the weekend before that.

By Tom Grater, Nancy Tartaglione

The impact of restrictions aimed at stemming the spread of the coronavirus in Europe is already being felt at the box office as Italian cinemas shut down this weekend and ticket revenues plunged. In a governmental decree issued Sunday, Italy shut down all cinemas, along with museums, shows and cultural sites, in a bid to halt the advance of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

In Italy, which is suffering the biggest coronavirus outbreak in Europe with more than 350 deaths, box office crashed to an all time low of €439.000 ($500,000) over the March 5 weekend frame. Or rather, the portion of the weekend prior to Sunday May 8.

Bong Joon Ho’s Oscar-winning drama “Parasite” has broken records at the U.K. box office, becoming the country’s highest-grossing foreign-language film of all time.

By Tom Grater

Welcome back one and all to the weekly box office report! As is always the case, each and every Sunday you can expect a look at what made the most money in theaters, as well as just how all of the new releases fared. Once again this week, we have a rather small batch of of new releases opening, mainly consisting of Onward and The Way Back, at least in wide release.

It seems that audiences in North America are not staying away from movie theaters amid virus concerns, according to the weekend’s box office numbers. "Onward," from Disney and Pixar, topped the charts as expected.

LOS ANGELES — Disney and Pixar’s Onward debuted this weekend to US$40 million, enough to lead box office charts but still a somewhat disappointing start given the studio’s near-flawless track record when it comes to animated fare. Internationally, the film brought in $28 million for a global tally of $68 million.

It seems that audiences in North America are not staying away from movie theaters amid virus concerns, according to the weekend’s box office numbers. "Onward," from Disney and Pixar, topped the charts as expected.