Like more or less expected there wasn't a chance against Taylor Swift. Now we can only hope KOTFM will show some legs like TWOWS did. Audience seems to like it though. A- cinema score, 85% at RT so far.
Killers Of The Flower Moon Tops The Wolf Of Wall Street With $23 Million Opening Weekend
Hollywood's trifecta of old guard directors — Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, and Martin Scorsese — occupy a unique position in the modern Hollywood landscape. They have more misses than hits at the box office these days, but their names carry so much prestige that studios are still handing over big budgets anyway. After all, you never know when Spielberg is going to make another "Ready Player One," or Scott another "The Martian," or Scorsese another "Wolf of Wall Street."
Enter Scorsese's historical crime drama "Killers of the Flower Moon," which was co-financed by Paramount Pictures and Apple Original Films to the tune of a $200 million production budget. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, and Lily Gladstone, the film rode into theaters this weekend on a wave of rave reviews (92% on Rotty T's, as of this writing). Variety reports that "Killers of the Flower Moon" is currently projected to finish its opening weekend with a total of $23 million from 3,628 theaters. It grossed $9.6 million on Friday, including $2.6 million from Thursday previews.
As Variety notes, that's a bigger start than the last Scorsese movie that kicked off with a wide theatrical release: "The Wolf of Wall Street," which scored an $18.3 million debut back in 2013. However, it looks like Martin Scorsese will lose the wrestling match with Taylor Swift (now there's a mental image) as "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" is expected to remain #1 in the box office rankings over its second weekend. The record-smashing concert film grossed $5.9 million on Thursday and $10.4 million on Friday, returning to theaters after a strategic absence of showings Monday-to-Wednesday, to emphasize the "event" vibes.
Marty takes a bite of the Apple
Though the Hollywood frenzy of splurging on streaming seems to be drying up, with studios like Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery now scrambling to cut costs, Scorsese is still reaping the benefits of tech titans breaking into the film industry. For Apple, a company that had a total revenue of $394.3 billion in 2022, the cost of financing "Killers of the Flower Moon" is scarcely more than a rounding error. The true value of the film lies more in establishing Apple Original Films as a respected brand, with room for future growth, than in breaking even at the box office. There's also the hope that the presence of prestige films will attract more subscribers to Apple TV+, which has struggled to compete in a heated streaming market.
We can expect a big awards push for "Killers of the Flower Moon," which could bode well for its long-term prospects at the box office. From its initial $18.3 million opening weekend, "The Wolf of Wall Street" went on to gross $392 million worldwide thanks to Oscars buzz (it was nominated five times, though scored no wins) and strong overseas performance. That movie had around half the budget of "Killers of the Flower Moon," but if Scorsese's new film follows a similar trajectory it could potentially come close to breaking even at the box office. Audiences seem happy so far, giving it an A- CinemaScore based on exit polling.
‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Debuts in Second Place at Domestic Box Office
Swifties are shaking off competition from Martin Scorsese.
It seems like Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour will top the domestic box office for the second weekend in a row after beating newcomer Killers of the Flower Moon. The hit concert film grossed over $10 million on its second Friday, after making nearly $6 million on Thursday. The Eras Tour is receiving a highly unconventional release; not only is it being distributed directly by theater chains without the involvement of a studio, it is only playing Thursday-Sunday for three weeks.
It didn’t have a difficult time defending its title on its second Friday, despite the challenge posed by Killers of the Flower Moon. Directed by Martin Scorsese, the epic Western grossed over $9 million on opening day, which includes the $2.6 million that it made in Thursday previews. The film is expected to gross over $23 million across the weekend, which is a solid result for a three and a half hour epic about the violence that shaped America, but not so great when you consider its reported $200 million budget. But the film has the potential to alter the industry; it is, after all, a streaming title that is getting a proper theatrical release before being launched on Apple TV+ at an unspecified later date. And despite their unavailability to promote the movie because of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro — especially together, in a Scorsese picture — are a considerable draw. The movie would hope to leg it through fall, on the back of excellent reviews and a solid A- CinemaScore from opening day audiences. For context, Scorsese and DiCaprio's The Wolf of Wall Street ended up adding nearly $100 million to its $19 million opening a decade ago.
‘Killers Of The Flower Moon’ Brings Adults Back To Cinemas With $23M Opening & A- CinemaScore
UPDATED SATURDAY AM: The overall box office at around $87.3M is off 23% from a year ago. But AMC‘s Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour and Apple and Paramount‘s Martin Scorsese movie, Killers of the Flower Moon, are keeping business afloat and popcorn popping with respective weekend takes of $32M and $23M. The latter is an exceptional start for what is a very long movie — longer than Oppenheimer– and a great beginning for Apple’s foray into the wide theatrical business, especially at a time when actors can’t promote because of the actors strike. Imagine if there wasn’t an actors strike, how much higher this could go?
Also, it’s an applaudable start for a period movie, this being set in the 1920s. Quite often, tracking sources pin ‘period’ as a factor that dogs grosses. And the exits are great for Killers of the Flower Moon: With an A- CinemaScore, Killers of the Flower Moon is one of three As for Oscar-winner Scorsese with CinemaScore, the other two being The Departed (A-) and Goodfellas (A-).
Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak remains high at 88% and 4 1/2 stars, and a 72% recommend. CinemaScore audiences have been hard on several Scorsese classics, and haven’t handed him many A grades during his career in the pollster’s era, i.e. Casino (B-), The Aviator (B+), Gangs of New York (B), Wolf of Wall Street (C), and Shutter Island (C+).
At $23M+, Killers of the Flower Moon is just north of DiCaprio’s opening box office average with Scorsese of $19M, and it’s the best start for a De Niro and Scorsese combo, beating Cape Fear‘s $10.2M opening, back when Ska music was in style.
Taylor won Friday at $10.4M to Killers of the Flower Moon‘s $9.4M, which includes Thursday previews of $2.6M. Many are expecting Swift to climb around 22% to 36% today and not fall apart.
What’s working here for Killers of the Flower Moon? First, let’s start with the fact that the movie was promoted to the entire Apple sub base on Apple TV+, and they were told not to stay home. It’s DiCaprio, Scorsese, and De Niro, and to any clear thinking adult moviegoer, that’s a call to get off your couch (81% were over 25). Throw in the fact that the movie is based on a best-selling book. Apple, since blasting the movie off with the support of its cast out of Cannes, has kept the loudspeakers on in the pic’s promotion with a robust outdoor campaign (go to the Century City Mall and digital billboards for Killers of the Flower Moon are all around you).
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It’s also a western, and while some thought this movie would simply play well in New York and L.A., its strongest regions are the South and the West. For Paramount, in some ways, this is reminiscent of the Coen Bros’ True Grit, which was a wide-appealing western for them, and had a $24.8M start. However, that pic had some legs. We’ll see where Killers of the Flower Moon roams. Top theater in the nation belongs to AMC Lincoln Square, which has minted more than $71K so far. PLFs and Imax are driving 37% of ticket sales.
Demo diagnostics for Killers of the Flower Moon on PostTrak are 61% Male/39% Female, with 46% of the audience between 18-34 years old and the largest quad being 25-34 years old at 27%, with an amazing 38% of the audience over 45. Diversity demos were 54% Caucasian, 21% Latino and Hispanic, 10% Black, 8% Asian, and 8% Native American/other, the latter who gave the movie about the Osage Nation tragedy an 84% grade. Best grades for the movie were from the under-25 guys demos, who didn’t show up in bulk at 13%, but who gave the DiCaprio-De Niro movie a 90% grade.
Box Office: ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Blossoms With $9.4 Million Opening Day
The flower moon is getting eclipsed by Taylor Swift. Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” earned $9.4 million from 3,628 theaters on its opening day, a figure that includes $2.6 million in Thursday previews. The epic-length historical drama is now projecting a finish of $23 million over the three-day opening frame, tracking behind the second weekend of Swift’s “Eras Tour” concert film.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” sports a colossal $200 million production budget, but it’s not like those behind the feature are banking on a hefty profit from tickets. Apple, which backed the project, is planning to invest in theatrical runs for its original slate as a means to promote their eventual streaming releases. “Flower Moon” is the first high-profile rodeo in movie theaters for the company, which has partnered with Paramount Pictures to handle domestic distribution. Apple will take another stab at theatrical later this fall with “Napoleon,” partnering with Sony for Ridley Scott’s similarly mega-budgeted war feature.
For what it’s worth, “Flower Moon” is tracking ahead of the opening for Scorsese’s last Leonardo DiCaprio collaboration “The Wolf of Wall Street.” That sprawling comedy debuted with $18 million in late December, but rode the holiday season and awards buzz to a $116 million finish in North America. “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which has drawn some of the strongest reviews of the year, is hoping for its own sustained run in the weeks ahead. A positive A- grade through research firm Cinema Score shows that initial audiences are happy to go along for the ride. Even more striking is the film’s initial draw with younger audiences — 46% of opening night moviegoers were under the age of 35.
Starring DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon” shifts the procedural structure of David Grann’s novel of the same name, following the racist conspirators that murdered members of the Osage nation after oil was discovered on their land.