Super Bowl weekend has historically been slow for the box office, but COVID-19 has made it slower than ever, as only two films, Warner Bros.’ “The Little Things” and Universal/DreamWorks’ “The Croods: A New Age” grossed over $1 million this weekend.
“The Little Things” will stay No. 1 with $2.1 million grossed in its second weekend for a 10-day total of $7.7 million. “Croods,” which is in its 11th weekend in theaters, continues its impressive hold despite being available on PVOD for the past two months with $1.7 million grossed, giving it a domestic total of $46 million and a global total of $147.6 million.
Open Road’s “The Marksman” is in third with $950,000, giving it a total of $9 million after four weekends. Warner Bros.’ “Wonder Woman 1984” is fourth, falling below $1 million with $905,000 grossed, for a domestic total of $40.3 million and a global total of $154 million. Sony’s “Monster Hunter” completes the Top 5 with $585,000 in its eighth weekend and a total of $11.8 million.
Overseas, Disney/Pixar’s “Soul” has been performing well at the Chinese box office, where it just passed “Incredibles 2” to become the second-highest-grossing Pixar film ever in the country with $55.8 million. Only “Coco,” which won over Chinese audiences with its story about Mexican traditions of honoring the dead, has grossed more for Pixar with $189 million in 2017. Overall, “Soul” has grossed $96.2 million in countries where Disney+ — which is where the film was released on streaming on Christmas Day — is not available.
While the pandemic slowdown is expected to last for several more months, next weekend will see the start of releases for Oscar contenders hoping to earn some mainstream buzz before nominees for the Academy Awards are announced on March 15.
Releasing next weekend will be Warner Bros.’ “Judas and the Black Messiah,” a biopic about the life and FBI-ordered assassination of Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton which earned critical acclaim following its Sundance premiere, and A24’s “Minari,” a Korean American family drama starring Steven Yeun that won the top prize at Sundance in 2020. Both films will be released day-and-date in theaters and on streaming, with “Judas” being released on HBO Max, while “Minari” will be released on-demand through the A24 Screening Room, with PVOD release on other platforms coming later this month.