by Josh Bate for @FilmCodex
Raya and the Last Dragon, the latest Disney film that opened with a hybrid theaters/streaming model, topped the box office once again this weekend. Raya dropped 9% from last week to earn another $5.2 million from 2,261 theaters. Overall, Raya has now taken in $23.4 million domestically, not including the rentals on Disney+, the numbers of which have not been officially released.
In second place was, once again, WB’s Tom and Jerry, which added another $3.8 million to it’s domestic total of $33.6 million. Tom and Jerry is arguably the biggest box office surprise of 2021, coming in above expectations and proving to many that movie theater attendance is on the rise once more. The Courier, Chaos Walking, and The Croods: A New Age round out the top 5, with $2 million, $1.925 million, and $620k respectively.
This was a big weekend for the box office and the film industry. After months of closures, LA movie theaters finally reopened, yet another sign that things are starting to return to some sort of normalcy. Coupled with the return of New York cinemas, and more theaters that are poised to open up soon, the box office is showing signs of life for the first time in over a year.
This is a good sign for Black Widow, the Marvel Studios film that is currently slated to release on May 7. The rise in vaccination numbers and a decrease in COVID-19 cases means that movie theaters will, in all likelihood, remain open from now on, barring an unexpected surprise. From this, one can deduce that movies like Black Widow could be set for release in some form. Disney CEO Bob Chapek said this week that the company are looking to “remain flexible” and “make the call [on Black Widow and other films] probably at the last minute”. Chapek is clearly hinting at the possibility of a hybrid model, akin to Raya and the Last Dragon, and all signs are pointing to this form of release for the long awaited Marvel film.
Images courtesy of Disney and Warner Media