MGM Delivering Record Opening For Amazon With ‘Creed III’ Set To KO $45 Million-Plus – Friday Box Office
04.03.2023 - 03:09
/ deadline.com
UPDATED, Friday PM: Amazon, as it re-embraces theatrical with its acquisition of MGM, will easily see the company’s biggest box office opening ever with Creed III, which is headed to a franchise record start of $45.5 million after a $20M Friday (including $5.45M in previews). Creed III‘s opening day alone is bigger than any previous box office weekend for an Amazon title.
For the most part, previous Amazon theatrical releases (of yore, not the current day-and-date Amazon Prime or truncated window titles) saw platform rollouts, sometimes through distribution partners like STX, Lionsgate or Roadside Attractions.
A previous wide notable weekend for an Amazon title was the fourth-weekend wide break of The Big Sick with $7.56M (in 2,597 theaters). Lionsgate handled that movie in 2017.
RELATED: ‘Creed III’ Review: Highly Predictable Film Still Entertaining Thanks To Jonathan Majors’ Acting & Michael B. Jordan’s Directing
The RT audience score for the Michael B. Jordan-directed and -starring threequel, which also headlines Jonathan Majors and Tessa Thompson, is still high at 96% fresh. Creed III beasts the three-day totals of Creed ($29.6M) and Creed II ($35.5M), both which had five-day launches over their respective Thanksgiving weekend openings.
The third weekend of Disney/Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania at 3,825 theaters is seeing a third estimated Friday of $3.5M and a 3-day total of $13.3M, which will get it to $187.6M.
Universal’s second weekend of Cocaine Bear at 3,571 is seeing a second Friday of $3.2M (-63% from last Friday), and a three-day total of $10.8M, -54%, for a running total of $41M by EOD Sunday.
Fourth belongs to Crunchyroll’s Demon Slayer Into the Swordsmith Village at 1,780 theaters.