Holdovers To Rule Against Neeson Action Thriller ‘Memory’ As We Await ‘Dr. Strange’
The past month was the year’s busiest at the box office with three of the year’s top five openers, and the past weekend saw four films gross above $10 million, a feat that surprisingly has not been achieved since last June. Things slow to a crawl this weekend, though, as we are one week out from the Marvel-in-waiting Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness which will kick off the summer box-office season. Though this week’s only new wide release is expected to open soft, there is still juice left to squeeze out of the current slate before the arrival of the first MCU film since Spider-Man: No Way Home. This may be the lowest grossing weekend since February, but a blockbuster packed summer is right around the corner.
The only film going wide this week is the Liam Neeson action-thriller Memory, getting a release by Open Road. Directed by Martin Campbell (Goldeneye, Casino Royale), the film is about an assassin (Neeson) who suffers from memory loss and is on the run from both the criminal organization he works for and the FBI. Guy Pearce and Monica Bellucci co-star. Memory is based on the Belgian book De zaak Alzheimer by Jef Geeraerts as well as its 2002 Belgian film adaptation. Critics are unenthusiastic about the remake, and it currently stands at 26% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Memory is Neeson’s fourth wide release, all from Open Road and Briarcliff, since the start of the pandemic. The Honest Thief in October 2020 and The Marksman in January 2021 were among the top grossers of the pre-vaccine era of the pandemic with $14.2 and $15.6 million respectively. However, those numbers would no longer qualify as solid in the current box office environment, and February’s release Blacklight fell short with only $9.6 million. Memory isn’t expected to exceed the low ceiling of Neeson’s recent releases, which have also been soft overseas, and it is uncertain if it will even make the top five this weekend.
As for the holdovers, the family films should continue to rule. The Bad Guys will likely take the top spot again after scoring the best opening for DreamWorks Animation since How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World in 2019 and their best non-sequel opening since The Boss Baby in 2017. The “A” CinemaScore suggests that the film will continue to play well, and there are no other animated films competing with it until Memorial Day weekend. Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the other major family film in theaters, may come in second place again. It is right on the cusp of the original’s $149 million cume (though the initial outbreak of Covid-19 ate into the first film’s gross), and any moment now it should become the highest grossing video game adaptation domestically.
While Sonic 2 will continue to grow its lead on its predecessor, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is falling further behind the previous two franchise entries. At the end of the first weekend, Secrets of Dumbledore was lagging 43% behind the first film and 32% behind the second film. Comparing the post-weekend-two grosses, it is now trailing behind by 57% and 42% respectively, and we’ll see if it continues to lose ground in its third weekend or is able to level out.
Eyes are also on the expensive viking epic The Northman which will reveal in its second weekend if it can become one of the increasingly rare specialty box office hits a la Everything Everywhere All at Once. While its “B” CinemaScore is not a great sign for its legs, its weekday numbers tell a different story. The Robert Eggers’ directed film, which was in fourth place over the weekend, took the top spot on Monday and had the smallest Sunday to Monday drop of any film in the top ten. On Tuesday it was in third place, ahead of Sonic 2. Still, even if it holds well in the U.S., the soft overseas numbers make it unlikely that it will recoup its $70-90 million budget.
Notable among the weekend’s limited releases is the anime : Pompo: The Cinéphile from GKIDS, whose January release Belle grossed $4 million.
The only film going wide this week is the Liam Neeson action-thriller Memory, getting a release by Open Road. Directed by Martin Campbell (Goldeneye, Casino Royale), the film is about an assassin (Neeson) who suffers from memory loss and is on the run from both the criminal organization he works for and the FBI. Guy Pearce and Monica Bellucci co-star. Memory is based on the Belgian book De zaak Alzheimer by Jef Geeraerts as well as its 2002 Belgian film adaptation. Critics are unenthusiastic about the remake, and it currently stands at 26% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Memory is Neeson’s fourth wide release, all from Open Road and Briarcliff, since the start of the pandemic. The Honest Thief in October 2020 and The Marksman in January 2021 were among the top grossers of the pre-vaccine era of the pandemic with $14.2 and $15.6 million respectively. However, those numbers would no longer qualify as solid in the current box office environment, and February’s release Blacklight fell short with only $9.6 million. Memory isn’t expected to exceed the low ceiling of Neeson’s recent releases, which have also been soft overseas, and it is uncertain if it will even make the top five this weekend.
As for the holdovers, the family films should continue to rule. The Bad Guys will likely take the top spot again after scoring the best opening for DreamWorks Animation since How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World in 2019 and their best non-sequel opening since The Boss Baby in 2017. The “A” CinemaScore suggests that the film will continue to play well, and there are no other animated films competing with it until Memorial Day weekend. Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the other major family film in theaters, may come in second place again. It is right on the cusp of the original’s $149 million cume (though the initial outbreak of Covid-19 ate into the first film’s gross), and any moment now it should become the highest grossing video game adaptation domestically.
While Sonic 2 will continue to grow its lead on its predecessor, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is falling further behind the previous two franchise entries. At the end of the first weekend, Secrets of Dumbledore was lagging 43% behind the first film and 32% behind the second film. Comparing the post-weekend-two grosses, it is now trailing behind by 57% and 42% respectively, and we’ll see if it continues to lose ground in its third weekend or is able to level out.
Eyes are also on the expensive viking epic The Northman which will reveal in its second weekend if it can become one of the increasingly rare specialty box office hits a la Everything Everywhere All at Once. While its “B” CinemaScore is not a great sign for its legs, its weekday numbers tell a different story. The Robert Eggers’ directed film, which was in fourth place over the weekend, took the top spot on Monday and had the smallest Sunday to Monday drop of any film in the top ten. On Tuesday it was in third place, ahead of Sonic 2. Still, even if it holds well in the U.S., the soft overseas numbers make it unlikely that it will recoup its $70-90 million budget.
Notable among the weekend’s limited releases is the anime : Pompo: The Cinéphile from GKIDS, whose January release Belle grossed $4 million.
