Box Office: Eternals holds steady at number one for the second weekend in a row

Eternals was easily able to hold on to the top spot at the box office and while last weekend’s response to the film indicated a pretty steep decline to come, Eternals actually held better than most were expecting given what was working against it.

Eternals grossed $27.5 million over the weekend which represented a decline of 61%. Despite a 46% rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes and its “B” CinemaScore from opening night audiences, Eternals didn’t totally collapse and that could be due to a few factors. Eternals didn’t face real competition this weekend as Clifford the Big Red Dog wasn’t going to be a threat. The 80% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes also shows that moviegoers are liking what they’re seeing more than critics and there just might be general curiosity as to if it’s as bad as the critics say. Lastly, Veterans Day fell on Thursday so adults were free from work and kids were free from school to boost moviegoing a bit. Some people even had Friday off as well so this all played into Eternals holding much better than anticipated. Even when Marvel “underperforms”, they still seem to come out of things virtually unscathed. Domestically Eternals has pulled in $118.7 million to date and after earning an additional $48 million from 49 overseas markets, the film has grossed $281.4 million globally.

Debuting in second is Clifford the Big Red Dog which grossed $16.42 million over the proper weekend and $22 million since its release on Wednesday. Clifford the Big Red Dog is a day-and-date release as the film is also available for streaming on Paramount+. The film has an exclusive theatrical window in Canada which helped boost grosses this weekend and the movie was able to break out with the family audience at home and theatrically. I imagine this release strategy will prove lucrative for Paramount and it just shows that you can’t paint the day-and-date strategy with a single brush. These release pattern works for some and doesn’t for others. It really is trial and error.

In third, we find Dune which grossed $5.5 million over the weekend. That’s a drop of 29% and represents the film’s best hold to date. Since Dune’s decline with minimal this weekend, $100 million domestic is now in its sights as this film also has come out on top despite the day-and-date release on HBO Max. Dune has grossed $93.1 million domestically to date and after taking in another $6.8 million from 76 foreign markets, Dune has grossed $351.2 million worldwide. Dune still has openings in Australia and New Zealand coming on December 2 so its global box office run is not over yet.

No Time To Die places fourth with a gross of $4.6 million. Dropping 23% from last weekend, No Time To Die had a solid hold despite being made available on PVOD this week. Domestically, No Time To Die has grossed $150.4 million but its real success continues to be abroad. No Time To Die has cleared $669 million globally and while this won’t allow the film to break even based on delays and extended marketing costs, it’s still a solid showing for a film during the pandemic.

Rounding out the top five is Venom: Let There Be Carnage which grossed $4 million over the weekend. The decline was a slim 10% and the Venom sequel continues to be one of the best performers during the pandemic box office. What’s the film’s reward? Venom: Let There Be Carnage is now the second film to gross $200 million domestically during the pandemic after Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. To date, the film has grossed $202.7 million on the domestic front. The first film tapped out at $213.5 million and there is a chance the sequel will match it. Internationally, Venom: Let There Be Carnage grossed $7.7 million from 55 overseas markets which brings its worldwide total to $441.5 million.

What are YOUR thoughts on this weekend’s box office results?