Box Office Set for Worst Memorial Day Weekend Since 1995, ‘Garfield’ and ‘Furiosa’ Struggle

Expectations were high for the Memorial Day weekend box office as “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” exceeded targets for ticket pre-sales. Ultimately, the film had a disappointing opening, with $32 million in total sales for the four-day weekend. “The Garfield Movie” made just over $31 million.

Total sales for the holiday weekend topped out at just $128.3 million, per CNN, representing a steep decline from the same time span in 2023, which brought in just under $205 million. It’s well under the top performing Memorial Day weekend in 2013 when moviegoers spent $314.3 million, driven mainly by the release of that year’s mega-hit “Fast & Furious 6.”

“There’s no way to sugarcoat it, the numbers that are coming out this weekend are nothing to write home about,” Paul Degarabedian, senior media analyst with Comscore, told CNN about the disappointing results. The next lowest Memorial Day weekend was led by “Casper” in 1995, with total box office sales totaling just over $117 million.

“Summer is the most important moviegoing season of the year, accounting on average for nearly 40% of the total domestic annual revenue, so as goes the summer so goes the year,” he added.

Last summer was dominated by “Barbenheimer” mania, with the release of the comedy “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s historical drama “Oppenheimer” on the same weekend in late July. Combined, the films raked in close to $1 billion domestically. This summer so far doesn’t have any standout contenders for similar results.

The 2024 season will be full of franchise follow-ups, including “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” next week. Degarabedian mentioned a few other upcoming titles that had potential, including “Despicable Me 4,” “Inside-Out 2,” and “Deadpool & Wolverine.”

“Sans a Marvel movie to provide a $100-million-plus opening weekend to get the momentum going, this summer will have to make up ground in June and July,” he added.

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Entertainment industry experts also noted that Disney has yet to release a single film in 2024, which is likely contributing to the downward trend in ticket sales. They noted that $100 million-plus openings are more likely with well-known franchises like Marvel and Star Wars.

The analysts are still blaming post-pandemic viewing habits for the low ticket sales but insist that there’s still potential for studios to make money this summer.

“Moviegoing habits have changed drastically since the pandemic, but we continue to see significant enthusiasm when it comes to the theatrical experience,” Daniel Loria, editorial director at Box Office Pro, told CNN. “The data clearly shows that audiences can still support the studio tentpole model — but identifying the movies that will become those blockbuster hits continues to be as difficult to predict as ever before.”

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