This was the weekend that multiplex operators have been waiting for. Not one but two huge films opened at the same time. There are also a couple of older movies with legs, something that has been rare in the post-pandemic era. The end result is that $302 million in tickets were sold domestically for the strongest weekend for the industry in more than four years.
Exhibitors can use the good news. In a year when many stocks are rallying, movie-related players outside of Cinemark (CNK 1.31%) are barely keeping up with the general market.
Shares of Imax (IMAX -0.79%) have risen just 12% this year, and the country's largest theater operator has fared even worse. The lone market-beater is Cinemark with its 79% year-to-date surge, but shares are still lower over the past year. If the summer closes out with the same kind of momentum that exhibitors experienced this weekend, it may not be only industry winner of 2023.
Come on Barbie, let's go party
Barbenheimer weekend -- the combination of Warner Bros. Discovery's (WBD -0.09%) Barbie and Comcast's (CMCSA -0.84%) Oppenheimer -- lived up to the hype. Barbie led the way with $155 million in stateside box office receipts. The debut isn't a new recent record. In the time since Disney's (DIS -0.89%) Avengers Endgame collected a record $357.1 million domestically in its premiere weekend during the springtime of 2019, there have been five single movies that outgrossed Barbie in their initial weekend of screenings. This fresh success has been a team effort.
Barbie generated a little more than half of the country's ticket sales over the weekend, but Oppenheimer followed with a significant $80.5 million in receipts. You also had Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible, and Insidious sequels wooing audiences, though all three films have been generally disappointing.
Sleeper hits that aren't sequels are also playing a key supporting role. Sound of Freedom continues to galvanize a cult following, topping $20 million in tickets sales as the third-best-performing film in its third weekend on the market. Elemental is also still going strong. The Disney animated release that seemed destined to be a flop has is still drawing families. It has now generated $356 million in worldwide ticket sales, closing in on profitability even before merchandise sales and digital distribution channels.
Image source: Getty Images.
Barbie was the star, and rightfully so. However, you had seven movies drumming up at least $5.8 million in domestic admissions apiece. This is important for exhibitors, as it's often been a popular film or two carrying the load, with the rest of a multiplex operator's screens running to largely empty seats.
This week should also be strong. Barbie and Oppenheimer are well liked, with film critic and audience approval ratings of at least 90% according to reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. They should both have legs. Disney's Haunted Mansion won't open as strongly as Barbie or Oppenheimer, but it will find its audience this weekend. Next week will unveil Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and Meg 2, both potential box office winners.
The multiplex isn't dead. Whether it's actual cinemas or a company like Imax that enhances screenings at premium price points, it's time for movie theater stocks to reflect the turnaround. It's a Hollywood ending, after all.
