Last weekend’s opening for In the Heights produced disappointing box office results, producing only $11.4M in ticket sales across 3,456 theatres in the U.S. and Canada. Expectations were running high for the film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit Broadway musical, which reportedly cost Warner Bros. $55M to produce.
What’s more, the studio lavished its release with an extensive and expensive promotional campaign, touting its availability in theatres and on HBO Max streaming, following its announced strategy to release its entire slate of 2021 feature films both in theatres and online at the same time. After Warner Bros. announced last December their day & date release strategy, many wondered what impact it would have on the theatrical box office, concerned that some of those who have gone to theatres to see these films would instead decide to stay at home and watch them from their living rooms.
Now that we are halfway through 2021 and have seen the results from a number of the high-profile day & date releases, the early results appear to indicate that films can be successful both in theatres and online, even when they are released at the same time. Jeff Goldstein, WB’s head of Domestic Distribution, told the Associated Press, “Our experience, which is backed up on ‘In the Heights,’ is that if the movie hits a high level in theatres, it hits a high level on the service [HBO Max]. If it hits a low level in theatres, it hits a low level on HBO Max. They’re really very comparable.” There are also a number of other factors which have dampened its box office, including the lingering effect of COVID-19 health restrictions, including the fact that 25% of the theatres which were operating prior to the pandemic have still not re-opened.