“Magic Mike’s Last Dance,” the third chapter in Channing Tatum’s steamy stripper series, topped a glacial Super Bowl weekend at the box office, generating a decent $8.2 million from only 1,500 North American theaters.
It’s the lowest start yet in the decades-old franchise following 2012’s “Magic Mike” (which opened to $39 million) and 2015’s “Magic Mike XXL” (which opened to $12.8 million). The first two installments were huge commercial hits, ultimately grossing $167 million and $117 million respectively on economical budgets.
“Last Dance” added $10.4 million at the international box office, boosting its global tally to $18.6 million.
The third movie, in which Tatum returns as a stripper with a heart of gold, wasn’t intended to play in theaters at all. The Warner Bros. release, which co-stars Salma Hayek Pinault, was commissioned for HBO Max and granted a production and marketing budget that corresponds with expectations for streaming releases. But once Discovery bought the company and David Zaslav took over as CEO, executives opted to give “Last Dance” a theatrical release because of encouragingly positive test screenings.
By bringing “Magic Mike 3” to the big screen, however, the price tag ballooned to the high $40 million range so it’ll struggle to become profitable in its theatrical run. Yet the film stands to make more money on home entertainment than it would have without playing in multiplexes.
“This is a soft opening for a comedy drama sequel,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. He adds, “The ‘Magic Mike’ series has been very profitable; this theatrical release is going to add ancillary value to all three ‘Magic Mikes.’”
Super Bowl weekend, which is the biggest TV event of the year, is rarely a busy time for moviegoing, and this Sunday’s matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs is no exception. “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” and “Titanic,” which Paramount re-released in theaters in honor of the romantic epic’s 25th anniversary, were timed to Valentine’s Day on Tuesday, but they also worked as counter-programming against the big game.
“Titanic” sailed to third place with $6.3 million from 2,464 cinemas, which isn’t bad for a movie that premiered on the big screen a quarter of a century ago and remains widely available at home. But it’s below the recent re-release of 2009’s “Avatar,” which generated $10 million last fall in advance of the sequel’s long-awaited debut.
It landed behind a different James Cameron blockbuster, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” which secured the No. 2 spot with $7 million from 3,065 theaters in its ninth weekend of release. So far, “Avatar 2” has grossed $647 million in North America and $2.176 billion globally.
Elsewhere, Paramount’s octogenarian comedy “80 for Brady” stayed strong in its sophomore outing, dipping 53% to add $6 million from 3,939 locations. The film, starring Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno and Sally Field as best friends whose obsession with Tom Brady brings them to the Super Bowl, has earned $24.9 million to date. It’s a pretty good result for the $28 million-budgeted movie, which is expected to remain a draw for older female audiences in the coming weeks.
Two titles from Universal Pictures, “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” and “Knock at the Cabin,” are tied for fifth place, with each film bringing in $5.5 million. The “Puss in Boots” sequel, now in its eighth weekend of release, has generated a mighty $158 million to date. M. Night Shyamalan’s psychological thriller “Knock at the Cabin” has earned $23.4 million in its two weeks in theaters.
More to come…