Box Office – Ghostbusters: Afterlife answers the call with a big number one finish

Ghostbusters: Afterlife made its debut over the weekend and proved to be quite the box office champ as it exceeded its early tracking numbers. The highly anticipated sequel grossed $44 million over the weekend which was well ahead of the $30-35 million the film was tracking at ahead of the weekend. The opening is a tad shy of the $46 million opening for the 2016 reboot but the key difference at play is budget.

The 2016 film carried a staggering $140 million budget before marketing costs while the latest entry is a relatively slim $75 million. While critical reviews were mixed (61% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) the fans seem to be loving the film as its audience score stands at 96% and its opening day CinemaScore lands at an “A-.” Ghostbusters: Afterlife will play well through the Thanksgiving holiday and I wouldn’t be surprised if we heard sequel talks in the near future.

Falling to second is Eternals with a gross of $10.8 million. That’s a 60% drop which is pretty steep but expected with the arrival of Ghostbusters: Afterlife. $200 million domestic likely won’t happen for Eternals unless it receives a significant Thanksgiving holiday bump but the Marvel film is in good shape regardless. Its current domestic total stands at $135.8 million and after adding another $22.7 million from 49 international markets, its global gross comes in at $336.1 million to date.

In third place, we find Clifford The Big Red Dog with a gross of $8.1 million. That’s a drop of 51% but not too bad considering the film is also available to stream on Paramount+ and it was competing for family audiences with Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Domestically the film has taken in $33.5 million and it could be one of the films that sees a good hold through the Thanksgiving holiday.

Debuting in fourth is King Richard with a soft $5.7 million. The latest Will Smith effort, which is bound to be an Oscar contender for the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, didn’t breakthrough with moviegoers heading to the theater but given the fact that film is also available on HBO Max, I’m going to assume the film performed solidly on the streamer. The positive news is that word of mouth could be strong because exit polling was solid from those who did catch the film on the big screen.  Those under 25 gave it an “A+” on CinemaScore (20% of the audience), while it received As throughout. I’m hoping for a Thanksgiving bump for King Richard but I honestly think HBO Max will be where the film truly thrives in the long run.

Rounding out the top five is Dune with a gross of $3 million. Down 45% this weekend, Dune is just a matter of days from hitting $100 million at the domestic box office with a current running total of $98.1 million. This should happen either slightly ahead of Thanksgiving or during the holiday rush. After grossing an additional $4.6 million from 75 overseas markets, Dune brings its worldwide total to $367.1 million

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