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Plans changed after Harvey Weinstein, the indie
film producer whose company The Weinstein Company financed the
"Home Alone" knockoff, was exposed as a serial sexual harasser
and predator. His fall from power led to the dissolution of The
Weinstein Company and plunged "The War With Grandpa" and other
films that the studio had expected to release such as "The
Upside" and "The Current War," into a perilous kind of limbo.
Two years after it was intended to hit theaters "The War With
Grandpa" finally debuted, although in a markedly different
theatrical landscape, one that faces an existential crisis
brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. The film grossed $3.6
million from 2,205 locations while receiving a brushoff from
critics who dismissed it as a derivative and joyless. In
pandemic times when major markets like New York City and Los
Angeles are closed, that may rank as a decent opening. That
being said, as Forbes notes, it still clocks in as the worst box
office topper since 1988, so clearly the exhibition industry is
facing some very punishing headwinds.
101 Studios, the new label run by former Weinstein Company
executive David Glasser, picked up the rights to "The War With
Grandpa" and released it. The company also distributed the
similarly orphaned "The Current War" in October, with the
subtitle "The Director's Cut."
This week, "The War With Grandpa" has unseated Christopher
Nolan's "Tenet" from the top slot. In its sixth week of release,
"Tenet" grossed $2.1 million domestically, bringing its haul to
$48.3 million. The Warner Bros. sci-fi thriller took in an
estimated $9.8 million globally this weekend in 62 markets,
pushing its worldwide total to $323.3 million.
Disney's re-release of "Hocus Pocus" continued to be a rare
COVID-era hit, earning $1.2 million. The comedy about a coven of
witches starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy
Najimy was a box office disappointment when it debuted in 1993,
but became a cult classic on cable and other home entertainment
platforms. "The New Mutants," the X-Men spinoff that Disney
inherited after it purchased Fox, earned $685,000, pushing its
domestic gross to $22 million. With those tepid results, "The
New Mutants: Part 2" seems like a dream that will be permanently
deferred.
Sony's "Yellow Rose," a drama about an undocumented Filipino
girl who wants to be a country music star, netted $150,000 from
900 locations, bringing its domestic total to $170,000.
This weekend — with its collection of underperforming
blockbusters and castoffs — paints a dire picture for cinemas.
It's going to take a lot more than this to keep moviegoing
viable. "Wonder Woman 1984" can't arrive soon enough.
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