Netflix remains tight-lipped on the box office performance of “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.” However, sources speculate that the well-reviewed whodunit scored in its theatrical release special, earning as much as $15 million in its week of airing in around 600 theaters.
Based on educated guesses, 2019’s “Knives Out” sequel grossed $13 million over the extended Thanksgiving holiday period, which translates to a robust average of $19,000 per theater. More than $9 million of that figure came over the weekend. This means ‘Glass Onion’ would have ranked third at the domestic box office, after ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ (which earned $65 million from 4,258 theaters over the five days) and Disney’s ‘Strange World’. (which grossed $18.5 million from 4,174 theaters over the five days), Netflix had actually brought in box office numbers. And those movies were playing in six times as many theaters.
Netflix declined to comment for this article. Some rival studios have estimated Netflix’s earnings to be just under $12 million for the five-day vacation.
“Glass Onion” – which brings back Daniel Craig’s eccentric sleuth Benoit Blanc and adds a ragtag team of star suspects, like Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn and Kate Hudson, to the fun – is also notable as a first film. Netflix to play in the three biggest chains in the country – AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas and Cinemark. The third-largest circuit, Cinemark, has offered at least 10 Netflix movies in recent months, but AMC and Regal previously declined because the streamer wouldn’t accept the standard cinema window. “Glass Onion” won’t be available on Netflix until December 23.
Privately, theater owners want Netflix to give “Glass Onion” a longer theatrical window, because it’s the rare crowd pleaser that doesn’t require superheroes or explosive stunts to appeal to audiences young and old. old. It doesn’t take a detective like Benoit Blanc to figure out that “Glass Onion” would have been a killer in theaters if it could have been screened in more places and played for more than a week.
The first movie, which Lionsgate released in theaters in 2019, opened to $26 million over Thanksgiving weekend. “Knives Out” went on to slay on the big screen, eventually earning $165 million in North America and $311 million worldwide, providing some much-needed optimism for the state of the original mid-budget fare at the box office. .
Netflix paid handsomely for the rights to the “Knives Out” series, paying over $450 million for the rights to make the second and third installments.
