The domestic box office for Walt Disney’s “Free Guy” surpassed expectations with more than $28 million in its first weekend. The movie stars Ryan Reynolds and 20th Century Studios produced it. It had expectations to gross between $15 million and $20 million in its first three days.
The film grossed roughly $51 million worldwide, with $22.5 million coming from international ticket sales. Despite being hampered by COVID-19, the action-comedy “Free Guy” performed better than expected over the weekend. It was grossing an estimated $28.4 million in ticket sales.
It’s a strong start that confirms what some analysts have been warning about all year. Hybrid releases that send new films straight to streaming platforms can lead to big-ticket sales losses. The last two No. 1 pictures, Warner Bros.’ “The Suicide Squad” and Disney’s “Jungle Cruise,” were both released simultaneously in theatres and on home video.
Due to positive word of mouth, “Free Guy” saw a 24 percent increase in ticket sales. It was between Friday and Saturday, the greatest of any summer tentpole. According to Reynolds, the film’s success piqued the curiosity of Disney, leading to making a sequel.
According to David A. Gross, CEO of the movie consultant FranchiseRe, new releases are selling about half as many tickets as they would typically.
“Since Memorial Day weekend, the domestic box office has been running at approx 50% of 2019 levels, with several spikes from strong titles. But then returning to 50% of 2019,” Gross said in an email. “Under normal conditions, ‘Free Guy’ would be opening 50% higher than this weekend’s number — comfortably.”
More about the Free Guy movie
Guy, Reynolds’ character, discovers he is a “non-playable character” in a “Grand Theft Auto”-style game in the film. Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, and Taika Waititi are among the cast members.
The film “Free Guy” is also the latest in a series of comebacks for gaming-themed films. After decades of failure, Hollywood is now finding success by scavenging intellectual property from video games. Reynolds played in one of the highest-grossing videogame adaptations of all time, “Pokémon: Detective Pikachu,”. It made $432 million globally in 2019.
“Free Guy” will play exclusively in cinemas for at least 45 days. Also, its strong showing over the weekend suggests it may defy the summer’s usual tendency of rapid drop-offs.
