The good news is moviegoers aren’t hesitating to come back as theatres reopen.
After a year of pandemic shut-down, NYC theatres reopened just in time for Disney’s RAYA & THE LAST DRAGON & Lionsgate’s CHAOS WALKING (pictured – Daisy Ridley & Tom Holland).
- RAYA opened #1 to $8.6M, per Comscore, at 2,045 theatres ($4,205 per screen), with 45% of domestic theatres open. That’s below the $9M – $11M exhibitors expected, but mostly reflects Disney, Cinemark (3rd largest domestic circuit), and some smaller chains not coming to terms to play it. Adding 500 screens could have upped RAYA to about $10.7M. In any case, it’s also a Disney+ hit streaming at $30 premium pricing.
Moviegoers were definitely excited about seeing RAYA. Its first choice average in tracking Friday was twice the norm with matching best scores from -25F & +25F, exactly the right audience for this film. RT: 95%.
- WB/Hanna-Barbera’s TOM & JERRY was a lively #2 with $6.6M
(-53%) in weekend 2. Cumes: $23M dom/$34.3M intl.
CHAOS was a slow walking #3 with $3.8M, meeting Hollywood handicappers’ expectations. Friday saw it tracking at the norm and doing best with -25F. RT: 23%.