The third time wasn’t the charm as far as the box office went for Disney’s Tron franchise. Earlier this week, we posted our predictions, which called for a modest opening in the $40 million range for Tron: Ares. It turns out that even these tepid projections were too optimistic, with Comscore reporting that the movie only managed a weak $33.5 million opening. That’s pretty terrible for a movie that cost at least $150 million. That said, the Tron series has never really caught on at the box office. The original movie was something of a flop in 1982, while Tron: Legacy made about $170 million domestically back in 2010 but in the end only broke even due to its high costs, which included a ton of hype, as at the time Disney seemed to think it would be their next Avatar.
Indeed, this has always been a franchise that never quite managed to live up to the studio’s expectations. However, despite the modest opening, there’s still a chance that Tron: Ares will at least break even for the studio, as long as the international box office is strong. It will likely also be a streaming hit once it reaches Disney+. But as far as big-screen Tron movies go, I imagine that if we return to The Grid, it will be via a streaming series rather than a feature film.
What went wrong? A big part of the equation might be the fact that star Jared Leto has a rather mixed history at the box office, with his recent Morbius being a pretty big flop. Always a controversial figure, he seems to polarize audiences, so it’s not like you had a ton of people turning up this weekend to see him in action. That said, I thought he was pretty decent in the movie.
This weekend’s runner-up title, Roofman, was a rather distant second, making only $8 million domestically. The good news for Paramount is that the budget was a fairly low $19 million, and audiences seem to like the movie, with it earning a solid B+ CinemaScore. Hopefully, it will have the kind of legs P.T. Anderson’s One Battle After Another is having, with ComScore reporting it only fell 39% this weekend, earning $4.6 million for a not-bad $54 million domestic total (although WB will still likely lose a nice chunk of change on it — but if it sweeps the Oscars, it won’t really matter).
Gabby’s Dollhouse was in fourth place with $3.35 million and a $26 million total. The faith-based Soul on Fire rounded out the top five with $3 million, which is low for Sony’s Affirm label. The Conjuring: Last Rites continued to pull in audiences, making $2.9 million for a huge $172 million domestic total (it’s by far the highest-grossing film in the franchise). Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle added another $2.25 million to its $128 million total.
Sadly, The Rock’s Smashing Machine suffered a horrible decline in week two. It fell a whopping 69% to $1.79 million and a $9.8 million total. Given the budget and pedigree, it’s likely going down as one of the year’s biggest box office disasters (no wonder The Rock is jumping into another Jumanji sequel). The Strangers: Chapter 2 started to wrap up its underwhelming run with $1.55 million and a poor $13 million total. Meanwhile, IFC/Shudder’s Good Boy continued to pull in modest business, making $1.3 million for a $4.6 million total.
What did you see this weekend? Let us know in the comments!
| # | MOVIE TITLE | WKND $ | TOTAL $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tron: Ares | $33.5 M | $33.5 M |
| 2 | Roofman | $8 M | $8 M |
| 3 | One Battle After Another | $6.67 M | $54.5 M |
| 4 | Gabby's Dollhouse | $3.35 M | $26.4 M |
| 5 | Soul on Fire | $3 M | $3 M |
| 6 | The Conjuring: Last Rites | $2.935 M | $172.44 M |
| 7 | Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle | $2.25 M | $128.6 M |
| 8 | The Smashing Machine | $1.79 M | $9.8 M |
| 9 | The Strangers: Chapter 2 | $1.55 M | $13.49 M |
| 10 | Good Boy | $1.36 M | $4.86 M |
