Box Office: ‘Onward’ Opens to Muted $40M, ‘The Way Back’ Stalls at $8.5M – Hollywood Reporter

Box office analysts say it’s unclear how much of an impact worries over the coronavirus had on moviegoing this weekend.

Family animated offering Onward opened to a muted $40 million from 4,310 theaters in North America, one of the lowest nationwide starts for the storied Pixar brand.

It’s unclear how much of an effect worries over the coronavirus had on moviegoing in the U.S. this weekend, or whether Onward faced its own challenges. Comparisons to last year — when Captain Marvel opened to $153 million — were always going to be brutal. Overall, revenue for the weekend was down more than 50 percent from the same frame in 2019.

The impact of COVID-19 is clearly being felt overseas, where cinemas are closed in China and box office revenue is compromised in markets including South Korea, Italy and Japan. Onward came in well behind projections with an underwhelming $28 million from its first 47 territories for a global bow of $68 million. The movie did not open in any of the countries most impacted by the coronoavirus.

While the movie received strong reviews and an 86 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes, it had only been tracking for a domestic launch in the $40 million to $45 million range even before the virus became a global concern.

Onward, earning an A- CinemaScore, follows two teenage elf brothers (Chris Pratt and Tom Holland) who embark on a quest to discover if there is still magic out there, and if they can use it to bring back their late father. Dan Scanlon, who directed Monsters University, is behind the film and wrote the movie with Jason Headley and Keith Bunin. 

Pixar’s lowest nationwide openings include 1995’s Toy Story, its first release, ($29.1 million), 2015’s The Good Dinosaur ($39.2 million) and 1998’s A Bug’s Life, which first opened in one or two theaters before breaking wide over Thanksgiving with a three-day gross of $33.3 million and roughly $40 million for the long holiday weekend.

Universal and Blumhouse’s The Invisible Man fell to No. 2 in its second weekend, declining a relatively narrow 46 percent to $15.2 million from 3,610 locations for a 10-day domestic tally of $52.9 million. Overseas, it grossed another $17.3 million from 65 markets for a foreign haul of $45.6 million and $98.3 million globally.

Warner Bros.’ adult drama The Way Back, starring Ben Affleck, opened to $8.5 million from 2,020 theaters. While that’s a sobering start for a movie boasting A-list talent and billed as a comeback for Affleck, it could have been worse. Some tracking services had the film opening to as low as $6 million (the high end was $10 million). The Way Back is the latest in a string of midrange misses for Warner Bros., and cost a reported $21 million to produce before marketing.

In recent years, Affleck’s box office track record has been decidedly mixed. In 2016, The Accountant debuted domestically to $24.7 million, while Live by Night, released that same year, opened to just just $5.1 million after first playing in select theaters. In 2013, Runner Runner debuted to $7.7 million domestically.

Directed by Gavin O’Connor, The Way Back follows a former basketball star (Affleck) struggling with the loss of his wife and addiction as he attempts to make a comeback by becoming the coach of his alma mater’s high school basketball team. The film, which skewed notably older and male, received strong reviews but a B+ CinemaScore from audiences.

Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog placed fourth in its third outing as it speeds toward the $300 million mark globally, grossing $8 million domestically from 3,717 cinemas for a domestic tally of $140.8 million. Sonic has now earned $154.8 million overseas for a worldwide cume of $295.6 million

20th Century/Disney’s The Call of the Wild rounded out the top five with an estimated $7 million from 3,914 locations for a North American total of $57.5 million and $99.6 million globally.

Elsewhere, Focus Features and Working Title’s period pic Emma expanded nationwide in its third weekend, grossing $5 million from 1,565 theaters for a domestic tally of $6.9 million. Emma placed sixth in the U.S.

Sony celebrated Bad Boys for Life crossing $200 million in the U.S. upon earning another $3 million for a domestic haul of $202 million and $415 million globally.

At the specialty box office, A24’s First Cow, from filmmaker Kelly Reichardt, posted an opening location average of $24,105 from four theaters in New York and Los Angeles, the best average of the weekend.

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