'Bob Marley' Wins the Weekend

Bob Marley: One Love came out on top of the box-office race over both the weekend and the six-day stretch from Valentine's Day to Sunday. The film didn't have a huge debut, but it outperformed expectations. Meanwhile, the superhero movie Madame Web had a dismal showing and is likely to lose a bundle for Sony. That makes it the latest in a growing line of superhero flops extending back to last year's Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and The Flash. Read on for details.

Via Variety.

Paramount’s musical biopic “Bob Marley: One Love” ruled in its box office debut, beating expectations with $27.7 million over the traditional weekend and $51 million during the six-day holiday stretch.

It was initially projected to generate $30 million to $35 million between Valentine’s Day on Wednesday and Presidents’ Day on Monday. But it experienced an uptick because audiences dug “One Love,” which landed an encouraging “A” CinemaScore from moviegoers. Critics weren’t as fond of the by-the-numbers retelling of Marley’s life and music career as evidenced by the film’s 43% rotten average on Rotten Tomatoes. Reinaldo Marcus Green (“King Richard”) directed and co-wrote the PG-13 “Bob Marley: One Love,” starring Kingsley Ben-Adir as the iconic reggae singer and Lashana Lynch as his wife Rita.

“My family and I are honored with the amazing response to ‘Bob Marley: One Love’,” the songwriter’s son Ziggy Marley said in a statement. “Like my father’s music, this movie is meant for the people and his message of peace, love, and unity is clearly connecting with audiences around the world. We thank the people for embracing this film and in so doing helping to highlight the message of one love.”

Overseas, “One Love” added $29 million from 47 territories, bringing its initial global tally to an impressive $80 million. The biopic cost $70 million to produce, and since theater owners get to keep half of the ticket sales, it’ll need to keep singing on the big screen to justify its price tag.

“We’ve blown through expectations, and I think we’re going to continue to do so,” says Paramount’s president of domestic distribution Chris Aronson. “It speaks volumes about the appeal of the story and Bob Marley’s music.

Ticket sales for “One Love” easily led in North America over fellow newcomer “Madame Web.” Sony’s superhero suspense thriller, starring Dakota Johnson as a paramedic with psychic abilities and an association to Spider-Man, opened in second place with $17.6 million over the traditional weekend and $25.8 million during the same six-day period. The film launched internationally with $25.7 million from 61 markets.

Those are disappointing figures considering “Madame Web” cost $80 million to produce and tens of millions more to promote and put in theaters. It’s the latest entry in the studio’s hit-and-miss universe of Spider-Man characters, anchored by the commercially successful “Venom” and the less-embraced “Morbius.” And even the critically derided “Morbius” managed to sink its teeth into $39.1 million in its three-day debut.

With a dismal “C+” CinemaScore and grim 13% Rotten Tomatoes average, it doesn’t take a clairvoyant to predict that “Madame Web” ticket sales won’t rebound in theaters. Though the story has only a tenuous connection to Marvel Comics, the film continues a terrible time for superhero adaptations, continuing the ignominious streak of “The Marvels,” “The Flash,” “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” and many other 2023 misfires.

Get the rest of the story at Variety.