In a delightful surprise, Rian Johnson’s whodunit, Knives Out thrived at the box office opening weekend. The $US 40 million film opened with a solid $US 41.7 million in North America and $US 28.3 million outside of North America for a global cume of $US 70 million. To put things into perspective, Charlie’s Angels has been out in cinemas for more than 16 days and has only grossed $US 51 million worldwide. Even Terminator: Dark Fate only raked in $US 29 million opening weekend in North America. Yes, the James Cameron produced Sci-Fi action flick — the sixth in its franchise — did gross over $US 94 million outside of North America in its first weekend, but even that’s a major disappointment considering the film’s massive budget.
This makes me really happy as Knives Out is an original, mid-range budgeted film that’s not a reboot, sequel, remake or based on any existing Intellectual Properties (IP). It looks like strong critical reception (96% on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 8.3/10) and fan reaction (93% on Rotten Tomatoes) generated enough buzz to push the masses to go check it out.
Here’s to hoping the film continues to thrive in the coming weeks and hopefully gross close to $US 200 million by the end of its run.
Knives Out is easily one of my favourite films of the year. In my review I wrote:
Knives Out is a spectacularly twisty whodunit that harkens back to the golden days of Agatha Christie, yet feels completely fresh and modern. One that tickles your funny bone as much as it titillates your mind.
Like a black hole in outer space, Rian Johnson sucks you right from the getgo into the zany eccentric billionaire world — mind you, it is very zany and all the characters talk like they’ve got a stick stuck up their bum, because frankly, they do — that he has built and takes you on this incredible journey that’s scattered with clues and clever misdirection.
*****
Speaking of box office draws, after merely two weekends in theatres, Disney’s Frozen 2 has already grossed over $US 287 million in North America and $US 451 million outside of North America, bringing its worldwide tally to $US 738.5 million. Last week, the film broke Toy Story 4‘s record to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time.
At this rate, it’s very likely that it will gross at least $US 1 billion by the end of its run. If it does so, it will be the 7th Disney movie in 2019 to achieve that, joining the ranks of Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Captain Marvel, Toy Story 4, Aladdin.
Knives Out and Frozen 2 are currently playing in Malaysian cinemas.
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