“Quiet: Day One” was a hit at the box office. The prequel grossed an estimated $53 million in its opening weekend in North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday.
This is both the best of the franchise and vastly exceeding expectations. Heading into the weekend, pre-release tracking showed Day One opening to $40 million, but audiences were clearly more keen to watch the Paramount-distributed action horror film starring Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn piece. Not so with Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Legend – Chapter 1,” which opened to $11 million.
Still, “Quiet Place”‘s win wasn’t enough to grab the coveted No. 1 spot on the charts. That honor once again goes to Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out,” which added an estimated $57.4 million in its third week and surpassed $1 billion at the global box office.
Those positions are likely to change when actual numbers are released on Monday. Regardless, it’s good news for summer theaters, which are finally starting to heat up but are still well behind last year (down 19%) and pre-pandemic normal (down 36% from 2019).
“Inside Out 2” continues to become a box office phenomenon, the likes of which the industry hasn’t seen since “Barbie” a year ago. In just three weeks of release, the film has grossed nearly $470 million at the North American box office and $545.5 million internationally, bringing its global box office total to $1.01 billion. The sequel is the only movie released in 2024 to break the $1 billion mark, doing so in just 19 days, a record for an animated film.
Michael O’Leary, president and CEO of the National Theater Guild, said: “This film’s stunning global success demonstrates once again that audiences around the world respond to compelling, entertaining films. And want to enjoy these movies on the big screen.
“A Quiet Place: Day One,” directed by Michael Sarnoski and rated PG-13, is also fast approaching an important threshold. Including $45.5 million from international screenings in 59 markets, the $67 million production has earned $98.5 million.
“People are loving the ‘The Dead’ franchise,” said Chris Aronson, Paramount’s head of domestic distribution. “We listened to fans who wanted to expand the universe.”
The film’s debut was higher than “The Quiet Place” ($50.2 million in April 2018) and “The Quiet Place: Part 2” ($47.5 million in May 2021), making it the third A rare feat in a film. John Krasinski, who wrote and directed the first two installments, remains on board as producer.
“This is one of those rare horror franchises that has generated incredible goodwill among audiences and critics,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
Playing on 3,708 screens in the United States and Canada, nearly 40% of its domestic revenue comes from “premium screens” including IMAX and other large formats. It entered the market with mostly positive reviews (84% on Rotten Tomatoes); audiences gave it a CinemaScore of B+ and a PostTrak score of four out of five stars.
“We put out a compelling package, but I think it also showed that people want to go to the movies,” Aronson said. “Markets really work when there is choice and everyone can find something that works for them.”
Horizon, meanwhile, got off to a slow start. While older audiences most likely to support Western epics don’t typically rush to see a movie on opening weekend the way they typically do for horror and superhero movies, the road ahead won’t be easy: Reviews aren’t great, and it’s in It received an impressive B grade in CinemaScore.
The stakes are slightly different with “Horizon,” a $100 million production that Costner financed himself and distributed in partnership with Warner Bros. It is open in 3,334 locations. It was a decades-old passion project, and he mortgaged his Santa Barbara, Calif., property to raise funds and quit Yellowstone to complete it. Following a bold, unconventional strategy, “Chapter 2” will be released later this summer (August 16).
“The Western is one of those very specific genres,” Dergarabedian said. “This is going to be a long battle.”
A quick look at the top 10 shows that audiences mostly prefer franchises and “prestigious items” to originals. “Bad Boys” follows “Horizon” on the charts and has been in theaters for four weeks.
“Summer audiences want something tried and true, they want something familiar,” Dergarabedian said.
He was also struck by the diversity of genres in the top 10, which included two Indian films: Telugu sci-fi Kalki 2898 AD in fifth place with $5.4 million, and Punjabi’s Jatt and Juliet 3″ ranked ninth with $1.5 million with $5.4 million.
“If you can’t find something that appeals to you in the theater right now, you’re not looking hard enough,” Dergarabedian said.
Estimated ticket sales for U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, according to Comscore. Final domestic data will be released on Monday.
1. “Inside Out 2,” $57.4 million.
2. “Quiet: Day One,” $53 million.
3. “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter One,” $11 million.
4. “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” $10.3 million.
5. “Chalki AD 2898,” $5.4 million.
6. “Motorcycle,” $3.3 million.
7. “The Garfield Movie,” $2 million.
8. “War for the Planet of the Apes”, $168.1 million.
9. “Jatt and Juliet 3,” $1.5 million.
10. “Kinds of Kindness,” $1.5 million.
