'Knock at the Cabin' Knocks 'Avatar' Out of the Top Spot

Discount matinee tickets are the explanation for how the comedy film 80 for Brady sold the most tickets at theaters this weekend and still came in second to M. Night Shyamalan's Knock at the Cabin. Shyamalan's movie made more money than 80 for Brady, but fewer people actually went to see the thriller. Neither movie was exactly a smash hit, but their take was enough to finally knock Avatar: The Way of Water into third place. Read on for details.

Via Deadline.

Universal’s M. Night Shyamalan movie Knock at the Cabin held up over Paramount’s 80 for Brady, $14.2M to $12.5M, even though the latter had discount matinee ticketing in most theaters coast-to-coast.

While the experimental ticket price drop didn’t exactly mushroom more bucks than Knock at the Cabin, 80 for Brady pulled in more people than Knock at the Cabin, estimated 1.3 million to 1.1 million, according to box office stat corp EntTelligence, which actually counts seats for the industry. The average ticket price for 80 for Brady was $9.79 to Knock on the Cabin‘s $12.30. So, in regards to Paramount and exhibition’s great team-up, something definitely worked here that bears repeating with subsequent films for older demos. In the same breath, more admissions doesn’t always mean more bucks when tickets are discounted.

“The success of exhibition has always been predicated on more people in seats,” explains Paramount domestic distribution chief Chris Aronson, “What 80 for Brady proves is that when you give the audience what they want, they will respond.”

A reminder that 80 for Brady will have this discount ticketing plan in place for the remainder of its run. It’s not just a one-weekend price drop, ala the price gouge that top exhibitors do for superhero movies during their opening weekends. It will be interesting to see the hold for 80 for Brady next weekend over the Super Bowl, especially on Sunday, when men retreat from the cinemas. The Jane Fonda-Diana Keaton-Candice Bergen team-up, Book Club, eased -26% in weekend 2 or $10M while Warner Bros.’ 2017 older skewing Going in Style fell -47% in weekend 2. 80 for Brady‘s opening is just under Book Club’s $13.5M and above Going in Style‘s $11.9M. Paramount acquired the movie from Fifth Season, and financed it for $28M.

Uni gets bragging rights with Knock at the Cabin for being the first movie to open to No. 1 of 2023 and sideline Avatar 2 after its seven-weekends- straight reign at the top of the chart. Knock is also the seventh Shyamalan movie to open to No. 1.

“Knock At The Cabin debuted very well at the domestic box office this weekend,” said domestic distribution boss Jim Orr, “M. Night Shyamalan is a master storyteller who once again had audiences holding their collective breath from this intense thriller. We anticipate a very healthy run in theatres going forward from here.”

The pic came on tracking weeks ago at $20M, and then simmered to its current teen level.

Get the rest of the story at Deadline.