Disney has another dud on their hands — this time, it’s “The Haunted Mansion” … which paled in comparison to last week’s big hits, including “Barbie” — who reigns supreme again.
The Mouse House’s latest offering — featuring a star-studded cast, including the likes of Lakeith Stanfield, Rosario Dawson, Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish and others — got off to a bad start this weekend … having only generated $24.6 million in North America markets.
Overseas, it did even worse — raking in only $9.1 mil, meaning worldwide … it’s got about $33 million to its name so far. The problem, the film’s budget was $150 mil — plus tens of millions that Disney reported spent to market the movie. So, yeah … way down in the red.
“Haunted Mansion’s” poor performance at the box office is emblematic of how its premiere felt … very empty/soulless. Granted that was SAG strike related, but still — they run parallel.
It ain’t the only Disney flick of late to disappoint. The new ‘Indiana Jones’ didn’t do so hot either — although, their other films have done somewhat decently big picture this year. It’s a mixed bag … but it’s certainly nowhere near where Bog Iger would like to see the numbers.
Elsewhere in movie land … “Barbie” cleaned up for the 2nd week in a row. Margot Robbie and co. still had momentum from just 7 days ago, with a massive $93 million haul domestically. Mind you, that’s in addition to the $162 mil from the opening weekend. And don’t get us started on the international numbers … at this point. “Barbie” has made over $750M.
“Oppenheimer,” too, is riding a second wave of success. It clawed an extra $46.6 million from ticket holders this weekend … bringing its final domestic tally to $174 million. Not half bad!
It remains to be seen whether the ‘Barbenheimer’ phenomenon was a fluke or if it’s a trend for features to come. On its face, this feels like a viral marketing thing that took a life of its own … morphing into an event for people. Hard to tell if folks will get as excited for others.