Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum led action comedy “The Lost City” to $31 million when it opened in US and Canadian theaters over the weekend, according to distributors estimates, pushing “The Batman” off the top of the box office. Tickets after the superhero movie released most of March.
“The Lost City” relied on the somewhat outdated concept of star power to push Paramount Pictures’ latest production above box office expectations.
Bullock has always stood out among her peers as the sexiest audience, but that charisma has been shown at its best in recent years on Netflix, where her 2018 movie “The Bird Box” became one of the most-watched live broadcasts.
Tatum has also proven popular recently, as his latest movie “The Dog,” which he co-directed and is still showing today, grossed $57.9 million in six weeks.
This harmony between Bullock and Tatum helped make Adam and Aaron Nee’s “Lost City” a compelling romantic comedy that recalls another 1984 movie, Romancing the Stone.
Cinema-goers were quicker to return during the pandemic.
Theaters are hoping “The Lost City” will mark the beginning of a new phase of stability.
The first three months of 2022 were the preserve of Spider-Man: No Way Home (Spider-Man: No Way Back), which crossed the $800 million mark this week), Uncharted ($133.6 million) and The Batman, which grossed over $800 million this week. He fell to second place in the fourth week of his show, adding $20.5 million to the total revenue of his show to reach $332 million.
For the first time this year, however, it appears that the calendar for new films will remain packed.
The coming weeks will see the releases of “Morbius”, “Sonic the Hedgehog 2”, “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” (Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets), “The Bad Guys” and The Unnecessary Wait of Massive Talent”(the sheer weight of unbearable talent), which will be shown exclusively in theaters.
The niche box office also got a boost with A24’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which debuted in ten locations with $50,965.
The film, a science fiction and existential comedy starring Michelle Yeoh, premiered – like “The Lost City” – at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, earlier this month.
Meanwhile, the Indian epic Rise Roar Revolt (RRR) grossed $9.5 million at its opening in 1,200 North American theaters, marking one of the biggest premiere returns for an Indian film ever.
The historical film directed by the Indian director “SS Rajamouli” tells about two revolutionaries, and it was shown in America at the same time as it was shown in India.
India does not have a central revenue statistic for movie theaters, but RRR is expected to generate one of the largest revenue in the country.