'A Quiet Place Part II' Has Pandemic-Record Opening Weekend
by EG
The horror movie sequel A Quiet Place Part II had a big Memorial Day opening weekend at the theater, setting a record for pandemic-era opening weekend ticket sales. The movie still fell short of its predecessor's opening take, and its ticket sales wouldn't have been considered impressive in the pre-pandemic era. But studios and theater chains see hope in its performance that the industry may be able to recover from the pandemic after all. Read on for details.
The North American box office is making major noise as Memorial Day weekend unfolds.
John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place Part II grossed $19.3 million on Friday and $14.9 million on Saturday from 3,752 theaters for a projected four-day weekend debut of $57 million. That includes a three-day gross of $47.4 million. (Those estimates could shift by Tuesday.)
All are the biggest domestic numbers in the pandemic-era and — more significantly — are almost on par with the first Quiet Place, which posted a three-day debut of $50.2 million in 2018. The sequel’s loud performance is a victory for Paramount and the theatrical experience and proves that the box office is righting itself after 15 months of being ravaged by the COVID-19 crisis.
A Quiet Place II has the advantage of getting an exclusive theatrical release before hitting sister streaming service Paramount+ in 45 days. As part of the marketing campaign, Krasinski completed a six-city tour surprising audiences in order to promote the big screen experience.
“This is a huge win for theatrical,” says Paramount distribution president Chris Aronson. “The theatrical business has been changed numerous times throughout history but never to the point where theaters was shut down for months and months.”
Adds Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian: “It’s quite astounding that A Quiet Place Part II could generate the kind of box office that would be considered impressive in the pre-pandemic era and rank this performance in the top echelon of horror movie debuts.”
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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