What exactly is going on here?
It’s seems that everyone is absolutely floored that “Space Jam 2: A New Legacy”, bested Black Widow 2 at the box office this week by a $32 to $26 million dollar margin.
There is no reason to be. At it’s absolute best… at it’s end-all most astonishing power… it might prompt a head tilt.
Here is why.
This was Black Widow’s second week number compared to Space Jam’s big opening weekend bow: To me the story should be almost a disappointment. $32 million for a summer opening when the box office has come back? Black Widow did $80 million last weekend. Both films had dual releases on HBO Max and Disney Plus respectively.
The family audience was there and waiting: Both of my screenings were full of families. Families that hadn’t had a truly promoted family animated feature brought to them in 16 months. They were hungry and they ate.
Warner Bros advertised the heck out of it: The marketing was there and we saw an almost full strength media tour as everyone starts bringing audiences back into the fold. LeBron was everywhere.
And the market is about to get a full summer time load with Snake Eyes, Old, and Joe Bell all hitting the theaters at once.
Listen. I don’t want to hate on Space Jam 2. I thought that it still managed to muster up some of that wonderful Michael Jordan energy despite Warner Bros effectively being responsible for it tanking in front of critics (that story HERE). If you got kids, I think it’s worth the time in the theater.
But $32 million certainly isn’t worth this. Someone must have told him otherwise.
Hi Haters! 😁 https://t.co/ayPGnBZGQU
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 17, 2021
Ugh. Let’s not let the hype start effecting how we actually do the math.