It’s lights out and away we go at the box office as “F1,” a big-budget racing drama starring Brad Pitt, impressively revs to $55.6 million in its domestic opening weekend.
With great reviews and a promising “A” grade on CinemaScore exit polls, “F1” landed in the middle of expectations of $50 million to $60 million. Those initial ticket sales are significant given “F1” is an adult-skewing tentpole that’s not part of an existing film franchise — a rarity in today’s I.P.-dominated movie theater landscape. Directed by “Top Gun: Maverick’s” Joseph Kosinski, “F1” follows Pitt as a retired Formula One driver who is convinced to return to the popular motorsport to coach a slick rookie (Damson Idris).
“F1” also marks the first commercial hit for Apple, the tech giant that financed the nearly $250 million movie. (Apple put the production budget at $200 million but others have reported the number is closer to $300 million). That’s not including the many millions on promotional efforts, including a globe-spanning press tour. And since Apple doesn’t have a distribution arm, the company is paying a fee to Warner Bros. to put the film in theaters; the studio also receives a percentage of theatrical revenues that increases with certain box office benchmarks.)
Unlike a traditional studio, Apple, with its $3 trillion market cap, is less dependent on box office revenue and home entertainment sales to justify its investment in mega-budgeted films. The company views its movies and television shows as a marketing vehicle for its technology and Apple TV+. With that vast reach, Apple has unique ways of promoting its movies, such as placing the “F1” trailer on the home screen of its streaming service and enabling iPhone push notifications for “F1” that offer a $10 discount when moviegoers buy two or more tickets on Fandango.
In a recent Variety cover story about Apple’s film and TV ambitions, CEO Tim Cook says he doesn’t view the content side as a way to move the hardware sales that fuel its core business. “I don’t have it in my mind that I’m going to sell more iPhones because of it,” he said of “F1.” We’re into [entertainment] to tell great stories, and we want it to be a great business as well.”
Since Apple’s foray into theatrical, however, the company has backed underperforming epics (Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon”) as well as critically reviled flops (“Fly Me to the Moon” and “Argylle”) and one Oscar best picture winner (the straight-to-streaming “CODA”) without a single profitable film to show for its efforts. “F1” has a long and winding road to profitability, to be sure, but this is Apple’s closest attempt to all-audience blockbuster territory. “F1” has generated $144 million globally after three days in theaters, nearly outgrossing the entire theatrical run of “Killers of the Flower Moon” ($158 million worldwide) and soon-to-outpace “Napoleon” ($221 million) as Apple’s highest-grossing movie.
“A lot about this movie looks easy, like a sure-fire hit, but it’s not,” says David A. Gross, who runs the FranchiseRe movie consulting firm and referred to “F1’s” start as “outstanding.” “Race car films and sports dramas have a long and mixed track record. This time, everything is working.”
With “F1” in pole position, box office competitors were left in the dust. This weekend’s other major release, Universal and Blumhouse’s campy horror sequel “M3GAN 2.0,” fizzled in fourth place with $10.2 million. The film, which sees M3GAN (short for Model 3 Generative Android ) rebuilt with advanced upgrades to stop a humanoid military robot that’s attempting an AI takeover, collected another $7 million from 80 international markets for a $17 million global tally. It’s not a terrible start for the modestly budgeted thriller, which earned a “B+” on CinemaScore exit polls (above the “B” grade that was bestowed to 2023 film “M3GAN”). But those ticket sales are a steep drop from the original sleeper hit, which ignited to $30.4 million domestically and $45 million globally during the notorious box office dead zone of January.
With a $25 million price tag, “M3GAN 2.0” won’t require a ton of coinage to turn a theatrical profit. But a weak turnout for the sequel suggests the murderous A.I. doll with killer dance movies was more of a one-off viral phenomenon rather than the face of an enduring film franchise. That could be a problem since a spinoff, titled “Soulm8te,” is set for 2026.
“The idea of a child-sized humanoid robot doll powered by AI generated a lot of interest the first time, but that interest has fallen apart,” says Gross. “Nothing appears to be wrong with the movie [but] the story is struggling to show something new, and fans are moving on.”
Elsewhere, holdover titles rounded out the top of box office charts. Universal’s “How to Train Your Dragon” slid to second place after two weekends in the No. 1 spot. The live-action remake added $19.4 million in its third weekend of release, bringing its North American tally to $200.5 million. Globally, the action adventure has collected $454.5 million to date.
In third place, Disney’s intergalactic Pixar adventure “Elio” continues to face fierce headwinds from fellow PG offerings “How to Train Your Dragon” and another Disney tentpole, “Lilo & Stitch.” In its sophomore outing, “Elio” brought in $10.7 million from 3,750 venues. That’s a 49% decline from its $20 million debut, which ranked as the worst start in modern history for Pixar. Despite solid reviews and positive audience scores, “Elio” has grossed only $73 million worldwide. The $150 million-budgeted property is shaping up to be a big money loser for Disney.
At Disney, though, the enduring success of “Lilo & Stitch” will help to offset any theatrical losses from “Elio.” After six weekends on the big screen, the live-action “Lilo & Stitch” has grossed $946 million and will eventually be the year’s first billion-dollar blockbuster. A live-action sequel is already in the works.
More to come….
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