Amid growing concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, ticket sales took a dive over the weekend, marking the lowest numbers the North American box office has seen in at least 50 years.
Receipts totaled about $ 60. 3 million in US and Canada theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday. Not since 2001 has weekend box office revenue been so low, according to data firm Comscore, when $ . 5 million in tickets were sold on a quiet September weekend. More people went to the movies the weekend after Sept. 25, .
Disney’s latest release from Pixar, “ Onward ,” remained the top film, earning $ 13. 5 million in its second weekend. The Christian romance “I Still Believe” from Lionsgate brought in $ 9.5 million. Sony’s comic-book adaptation “Bloodshot,” with Vin Diesel , grossed an estimated $ 9.3 million in its debut. The Blumhouse horror satire “The Hunt” opened with $ 5.3 million.
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All of those totals were notably below expectations. Most films last week had aimed to do (percent to) percent better . The weekend’s sales overall were down percent from the weekend before, according to Comscore.
While this weekend’s crop of films weren’t expected to compete with the same timeframe last year, when “ Captain Marvel ” was in release, revenue was down 90 percent from the same weekend last year.
Pixar films virtually always hold well for weeks, but “Onward” dropped 100 percent from its opening weekend. “The Hunt,” which remounted its release after its debut was canceled last fall following a wave of deadly shootings, had hoped to do twice as well.
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