The musical biopic “Bob Marley: One Love” dominated the box office in its North American debut, exceeding expectations with $27.7 million during its traditional weekend and $51 million throughout the week, thanks to Early release on Wednesday, to take advantage of two holidays in the United States.
The audience loved the film
The film was initially expected to bring in as much as $35 million between Valentine’s Day on Wednesday and Presidents’ Day on Monday. However, there has been an increase in interest, supported by the “A” grade obtained by the title on CinemaScore, which is the evaluation of the North American public made after the cinema sessions.
Critics, on the other hand, were not as receptive to the narrative about Marley’s life and musical career, considering it conventional and mediocre, averaging 43% negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Directed and co-written by Reinaldo Marcus Green (“King Richard – Creation Champions”), the Paramount production stars Kingsley Ben-Adir (“Secret Invasion”) as the iconic reggae singer and Lashana Lynch (“007 – No Time to Die”) as his wife, Rita Marley.
Overseas, “One Love” added $29 million from 47 territories, bringing its initial global total to an impressive $80 million. A good start for the production, which cost $70 million and should pay for itself before completing a month of production.
“My family and I are humbled by the incredible response to ‘Bob Marley: One Love,’” the singer-songwriter’s son, Ziggy Marley, said in a statement. “Like my father’s song, this film is for the people and its message of peace, love and unity clearly connects with audiences around the world. We thank the people for embracing this film and, in doing so, helping to highlight the message of love.”
The box office of “Madame Teia” disappoints
The success of “One Love” represented the failure of the week’s other release, “Madame Teia.” Sony’s superhero adventure, starring Dakota Johnson as supporting comic book character Spider-Man, debuted in second place with $17.6 million in its traditional weekend and $25.8 million in runtime six days, practically half the takings of the Bob Marley film. .
“Madame Teia” also earned $25.7 million from 61 international markets, bringing its global cume to $51.5 million.
Those are disappointing numbers, considering that “Madame Teia” cost $80 million to produce and tens of millions more in promotional expenses: Sony even brought Dakota Johnson to Brazil. The launch, however, was the worst in the studio’s Spider-Man character universe. Even the severely malfunctioning “Morbius” managed to sink its teeth into $39.1 million in its original three-day debut.
The new film managed the feat of scoring worse than “Morbius,” garnering a dismal 13% average on Rotten Tomatoes — versus the 15% that disgraced the living vampire film. Audiences also found it weak, rejecting a “C+” grade on CinemaScore.
The failure represents a terrible time for superhero adaptations, continuing the catastrophic run of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” “The Marvels,” “The Flash” and “Aquaman 2: The Lost Kingdom” in the past year .
The rest of the Top 5
In third place, the spy comedy “Argylle,” starring Henry Cavill, earned $4.72 million in its traditional weekend and about $5.55 million through Monday. After three weeks of release, Apple’s $200 million blockbuster has grossed a total of $37.2 million in North America and $76 million globally. Numbers much worse than those of “Madame Teia”, due to the production cost and exposure time.
The animated comedy “Ducks!” rose to No. 4 with $3.75 million over the weekend and about $5 million through Monday. After nine weeks of release, the Universal and Illumination animated film has grossed $116 million at the domestic box office and $254 million worldwide.
“Wonka,” starring Timothee Chalamet as fictional chocolatier Willy Wonka, rounded out the Top 5, remaining among the most-watched films in North America for the 10th consecutive weekend. Warner Bros’ musical fantasy added $3.49 million over the weekend and has $4.4 million expected through Presidents’ Day. The $125 million film has become a financial success with $210 million in North America and $604 million worldwide.
Trailers
Check out the trailers below for the top 5 most watched movies in the US and Canada over the weekend.
1| BOB MARLEY – ONE LOVE
2| MADAME TEIA
3| ARGYLLE – THE SUPERSPY
4| DUCKS!
5| WONKA
Source: Terra
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
