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PEOPLE & ARTS Monday 9 March 2020

Business as usual at North American box office amid virus

LOS ANGELES (AP) — North about the fact that we've age of 35), gave the film a
American audiences are seen such good word of B+ CinemaScore. Goldstein
not staying away from the- mouth." noted that the audience
aters amid virus concerns, The studio expects it to con- age broadened over the
according to the week- tinue performing well with weekend.
end's box office numbers. spring breaks starting for He also hasn't seen any sig-
Disney and Pixar's "Onward" many students and families nificant impact of the virus
topped the charts as ex- next week. on the North American box
pected and the Ben Affleck Internationally, "Onward" office yet.
basketball drama "The Way picked up $28 million. Dis- "When you look at the box
Back" also opened normal- ney noted that outside of In this image released by Disney/Pixar, characters Laurel, office this weekend with
ly. Asia-Pacific regions, coro- voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, from left, Ian, voiced by Tom Hol- 'Onward' and 'The Way
land, and Barley, voiced by Chris Pratt, appear in a scene from
"Onward" earned $40 mil- navirus concerns have not "Onward." Back,' these are solid num-
lion from 4,310 North Ameri- made a material impact Associated Press bers when we're all con-
can locations, according on earnings. cerned 'Will people hole
to studio estimates on Sun- The weekend overall is Southwest festival and the $21 million to produce. up inside?'" Goldstein said.
day. It's on the lower end down some 50% from the decision to push back the Affleck's performance was We're not seeing evidence
of openings for the studio, same weekend last year, release of the new James well-received by critics, of that, but anything can
more in line with "The Good but that's only because Bond film "No Time to Die" and the star has been un- happen." Industry analysts
Dinosaur's" launch in 2015. that's when "Captain Mar- from April to November. usually candid about his are keeping an eye on the
"Onward" is an original sto- vel" opened to over $153 Universal and Blumhouse's own real-life struggles with numbers as the news con-
ry about two teenage elf million, and not any indica- "The Invisible Man" dropped alcoholism in the press in tinues to develop around
brothers voiced by Chris tion of the market taking a to second place in week the weeks leading up to re- the outbreak.
Pratt and Tom Holland who hit, said Comscore senior two with $15.2 million, lease. "Thus far, I'm not seeing any
get a chance to spend media analyst Paul Derga- bringing its domestic total "It's a very specific drama," impact," Dergarabedian
one last day with their late rabedian. to $52.7 million. Worldwide, said Jeff Goldstein, Warner said. "This weekend played
father. The rest of the charts also it's just shy of $100 million. Bros.' president of domes- out exactly as expected.
"I think it's a solid start for looked normal, even with In third place, Warner Bros.' tic distribution. "Ben Affleck You have families and chil-
an original animated film," recent virus-related shake- "The Way Back" opened in did a great job and the re- dren going to theaters to
said Cathleen Taff, Disney's ups in the entertainment line with projections with an views back that up." the tune of $40 million. Peo-
president of distribution. industry, including the can- estimated $8.5 million. The Audiences, who skewed ple remain in the habit of
"We're especially excited cellation of the South by R-rated drama cost around older (64% were over the going to the movies."q