After months of waiting for the COVID-19 crisis to ease, the box office returned to some semblance of normalcy Thursday night as Hollywood event pics A Quiet Place Part II and Cruella opened in advance of the long Memorial Day weekend.
Directed by John Krasinski for Paramount, Quiet Place 2 took in a huge $4.8 million from roughly 3,000 locations — ahead of the first film’s $4.3 million in previews.
Disney’s live-action Cruella grossed $1.4 million. The family-friendly origin pic stars Emma Stone as the infamous Cruella de Vil from 101 Dalmatians.
Analysts had expected Krasinski’s sequel to do more in Thursday night business, as is the tradition for the horror-thriller genre. Thursday previews have never been a great barometer for more family-centric fare.
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Quiet Place 2 also has the advantage of getting an exclusive theatrical release before hitting sister streaming service Paramount+ in 45 days.
Cruella, however, is launching simultaneously in cinemas and on Disney+ Premier Access for an additional $30. The dual-release strategy could dampen box office results.
As the box office slowly recovers, studios like Disney and Warner Bros. are hedging their bets and experimenting with day-and-date releases on their respective streaming services (Warners more than Disney, at least so far).
Comparisons are difficult as the box office emerges from the ravages of the pandemic, considering many cinemas are still dark and those that are welcoming customers face capacity restrictions.
The first Quiet Place, released in 2018, took in $4.3 million in Thursday night previews on its way to posting a weekend opening of $50.2 million in North America. The film moves into a total of 3,728 theaters on Friday.
The top theaters on Thursday night, when showings started at 5 p.m. local time, came from Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, New York City, Phoenix, El Paso, Austin, Pharr (Texas), Albuquerque, Fresno and Dallas.
Disney’s last-live action reimagining, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, earned $2.3 million on its first Thursday night ahead of a $37 million domestic debut.
Cruella will be playing in a total of 3,892 locations on Friday.
