The movie musical curse of 2021 is showing no sign of abating. Even with one of the most celebrated filmmakers of all time at the helm,West Side Storymade just $4.1 million on Friday, for an estimated opening weekend in the $10 million range. Directed bySteven Spielberg, the film is the second big-screen adaptation of the iconic 1957 stage musical of the same name with a book byArthur Laurents, music byLeonard Bernstein, and lyrics by the lateStephen Sondheim.
Opening day audiences gave it a stellar “A” CinemaScore, which might help the film in the long run during the holiday season—films released in this window typically have greater multiples than at any other time of the year. For instance, theHugh Jackman-starrerThe Greatest Showmanlegged it to $174 million domestically after a $9 million opening weekend in 2017. But that musical drama was an anomaly, and more importantly, it didn’t release during a pandemic. It was because of the pandemic, by the way, thatWest Side Storywas delayed by a year.
All signs suggest that the brief resurgence movie musicals witnessed a few years ago is waning. Earlier this year, directorJon M. Chu’sIn the Heightstanked after similarly enthusiastic reviews, finishing its run with less than $50 million worldwide—but, it should be noted, the film was also released day-and-date on the HBO Max streaming service. The box office performance of theater-exclusiveDear Evan Hansen, however, was just as lackluster. A $10 million opening weekend is low even by the relatively (for him) muted standards of Spielberg’s recent adult-oriented fare such asBridge of Spies,Lincoln, andWar Horse—all of which were legitimate hits.West Side Storycost a reported $100 million to make, and it now faces an upward challenge, which it might be aided in by the heaps of Oscar nominations that it is expected to attract.
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In fact,West Side Storymight not even dance its way to the top spot. Fellow musicalEncantois holding steady in its third weekend, and is poised to finish with $9.5 million, which is just 27% down from the previous weekend. Featuring original songs byLin-Manuel Miranda, the animated film would hope to cross the $150 million mark internationally before it arrives on Disney+ on December 24.
Regardless of which film tops the chart, directorJason Reitman’sGhostbusters: Afterlifewill finish at the number three spot with a $6.4 million weekend, which takes its running domestic total to just over $110 million. The film serves as a soft reboot of the comedy franchise, and introduces new cast members alongside fan-favorite veterans.Afterlifealso functions as a welcome return to commercially successful filmmaking for the Oscar-nominated Reitman, who after a string of award-winning dramas sort of fell off the radar with a series of underperformers.
DirectorRidley Scott’sHouse of Gucciis expected to take the fourth spot with $1.27 million on Friday. With over $40 million in the bank domestically,House of Gucciis one of the few adult-skewing dramas that have not tanked at the box office during the pandemic. The film will, however, require the combined might of international numbers and Oscar nominations to push it past its reported $75 million budget.
Taking the number five spot with an estimated $2.93 million this weekend was Marvel’sEternals, which should cross the $160 million mark domestically by Sunday. Internationally, the meditative superhero film has made close to $400 million, despite themost divisive reviewsin the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Next weekend sees the release of the long-awaitedSpider-Man: No Way Home, which isexpected to set pandemic recordsand right the MCU ship.
