‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ Expect To Bring In $8.3 Million at Box Office
Disney’s latest animated feature ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ made it’s Disney+ and theatrical debut yesterday and is already leading the weekend box office having brought in $2.5 million Friday. The film is expect to earn $8.3 million across 2,045 theaters at the weekend.
So how does this stack up again other similar films during the pandemic? According to a recent piece in DEADLINE it is underperforming compared ‘Tom & Jerry’ which posted $14.1 million as well as ‘Croods: A New Age’s ‘opening over Thanksgiving which earned $9.7 million.
However, ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ is doing well with critics have earned an A CinemaScore. It is also currently sitting at 95% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and has a PostTrak audience score of 93%!
RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON – Raya, a lone warrior whose wit is as sharp as her blade, must track down the legendary last dragon to restore her fractured land and its divided people. © 2020 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
So why the slightly lower box office numbers? One of the reasons that Raya seems to be falling short according to DEADLINE is that Disney failed to reach a deal with Cinemark which is the number 3 chain in the country which meant that the film lost bookings in 250 theaters.
Even though numbers for Raya aren’t as high as some would hope for a major Disney release, It should be noted that film could still do well for the company as Disney gets to keep 100% of the profits from the $30 PVOD purchase of the film which was released simultaneously with the theatric releases. Disney doesn’t have to split these profits of the Raya Disney+ release with exhibition partners.
Photo: CNBC
Disney CEO Bob Chapek has also been vocal this week about the changing dynamic of theatrical releases saying, “The consumer is probably more impatient than they’ve ever been before.” As a result Disney is reviewing future plans for theatrical exhibition runs of films and may decide to continue to offer a theatrical release and Disney+ PVOD release simultaneously. We don’t have the figures for the Disney+ release which will provide a clearer picture of Disney+ versus Box Office popularity.
Photo Credit: IMAX.com
Thought Disney has held firm in their decision to open up Marvel’s Black Widow exclusively in theaters on May 7th, many are wondering if the company will rethink plans and offer the film on Disney+ as well. This decision could largely be dependent on how Raya does at the box office.
Once we have a better sense of the PVOD figures for Raya, we may be closer to understanding how the film performed overall, if it met Disney’s expectations and more importantly what impact these figures will have on films in the pipeline. According to DEADLINE those who saw the film in theaters were quick to notice that the film DID NOT include a trailer for Black Widow, rather just ‘Cruella’ which opens after the Marvel film. This lead many in the industry to speculate that Disney may be rethinking the theatrical release for the Marvel film.
We’ll be paying very close attention to this story and promise to let you know as soon as we’ve heard more about either film!
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