The Woman King hit big at the cinemas after the second week of its showing saw significant gains, totaling around $11.2 million in sales.
The Sony Pictures production, starring Viola Davis, has already raked in significant ticket sales after the second week. The Woman King saw relatively lesser sales in the first week, dipping by 42% days after its debut in the first week. However, analysts said the rate it takes is better than global blockbusters.
Blockbuster movies experience around a 50% to 70% decrease in attendance during the second week. However, the Woman King proves to be different.
“‘The Woman King’ is in it for the long haul is reflected in its 42% second-weekend drop. As expected, great word of mouth and awards season buzz has helped the film to become a must-see movie event,” said Paul Dergarabedian from Comscore.
If The Woman King maintains its pace in sales, it will not be long before the revenue covers the $50-million production budget. It would also exceed expectations and projections from film analysts. Medium-budget films are slowly gaining traction among viewers nowadays.
For instance, “Don’t Worry Darling” saw significant ticket sales during the weekend of its debut. The sales reach $19.2 million, which represents more than half of the production budget, totaling $35 million.
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Films like ‘The Woman King’ gained popularity
The success of The Woman King production proves low-budget films’ ability to compete in theaters, even amid bigger productions. As a result, theatre owners benefit from them, as revenue from low-budget films acts as a buffer when there are low sales from big-budget films.
While their success at the box office does not on par with international blockbusters like “Avengers” or “Avatar,” low-budget films bring revenue to theatre owners.
The pandemic presents a problem
When the pandemic lockdowns began, the movie industry was heavily affected. This led to significant losses among theatre owners. Moreover, the streaming industry gained popularity, which led to more losses.
Now that Covid is almost over, with cases dwindling and leading to fewer restrictions, theatres are hoping for the best. However, despite that, a lesser number of films still debut inside theatres. In 2022, only 2,000 movies were shown in cinemas. This accounts for a 40% decrease from the number reported in 2019, before the pandemic.
″‘The Woman King’ is another great example of original content connecting with and inspiring moviegoers on its course for a lengthy box office run that could be capped by award season nominations in the months ahead,” stated Shawn Robbins, a chief analyst from BoxOffice.com.
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Women’s problems highlighted
Oyeronke Oyebanji, a feminist from Nigeria, said “The Woman King” gave light to the systematic discrimination against women.
“As a Nigerian feminist, I have always been curious about how feminism has evolved in my country and culture. So naturally, I was curious to see “The Woman King,” the new movie about an all-female troop of warriors in a 19th-century West African kingdom,” she said.
“I’m not surprised by what I saw. But I am sad to report that the inequalities faced by the women in the movie do indeed reflect the struggles that women today face in many parts of the world, including West Africa.”
