For someone whose filmography has been fundamental to the creation of modern blockbusters, it’s a foreboding turn that Steven Spielberg’s own cinema’s odds at the box office are poor.
A semi-autobiographical examination of Spielberg’s love of movies and desire to make his own, Universal’s “The Fableman” had no competition in the holiday window, which includes “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which opens Nov. 11. Released on In just a handful of theaters before moving up to a Nov. 23 wide release, “Fable Men” earned less than 3 percent of the weekend box office and finished the holiday break with a $4 million total.
Disney Animation’s “Strange World,” Sony war drama “Devotion,” Searchlight thriller “The Menu” and DC Entertainment’s “Black Adam” — in its sixth week of release — all outperformed “Fablemen.”
Unfortunately, Spielberg is just the latest prestige film to underperform this year. If you thought “Fablemans” was in more jeopardy with Universal Slate’s sibling release of “He Said,” a retelling of Harvey Weinstein’s misconduct investigation, that’s not the case. “Side” saw nearly half the turnout of “Fabelmans” in the long weekend following its Nov. 18 bow.
Luca Guadagnino’s new cannibal romance “Bones and All” from MGM is performing slightly better than his last horror outing, 2018’s “Suspiria,” despite starring Timothée Chalamet, whose breakout role was Guadagnino’s “Call “May I Buy Your Name” came through. 2017 for Sony Pictures Classics. “The Name” grossed $20 million domestically and doubled that worldwide.
Other exclusive distributor titles such as Orion’s “Till” and Focus Features’ “Tár” did not fare much better despite critical acclaim, failing to pass $10 million domestically. The only real outlier is Searchlight’s “The Menu,” a fine-dining thriller with a $20 million domestic haul for a crop of high-brow films as horror-thriller efforts like “No” and “Masquerade” hit studio slates this year. are
The holiday window from late November to the end of the year has always been popular for prize hopefuls. Chazzelle’s 2016 Hollywood musical “La La Land” was released in December of that year and grossed $150 million domestically and just under $450 million worldwide.
The film proved that the buzz generated during limited releases could generate enough hype for films of that caliber to survive their major releases, or at least attract modest enough turnout to turn a profit.
Even though the film industry isn’t what it used to be before the pandemic, there are non-franchise films that have been able to thrive, making it all the more strange that Spielberg has been left on the sidelines.
