The Invitation
Horror Sony PG-13 1h 44m Released Aug 26, 2022 Discussed 2022–2023
Opening weekend
$6.8M
3,114 theaters
Per-theater average
$2,185
opening weekend
Domestic total
$25.1M
3.7× its opening
Worldwide total
$38.0M
66% domestic
Production budget
$10.0M
3.8× worldwide
RT critics
32%
RT audience
59%
+27 vs critics
Metacritic
45
Where it turns up
Friday, August 26, 2022 Fourth weekend of August 2022
On the chart The Invitation (opening): $6.8M
Expected 'Around $8 million... weak exits might hold it down a little lower' Actual: $6.8M, the hedge direction
In the note
The key aspect here is that on one hand you have a veteran marketing department that knows how to do things (HBO) and on the other hand you have a streamer, and just like the other streamers the higher ups have contempt for marketing departments. Anyway, with the expected accuracy of Aaron Donald’s helmet, here are some thoughts on the weekend box office. The Invitation - This is a pretty typical film for this weekend, a genre film that isn’t great (based on the current RT and exit scores), but you find a gap in the release schedule and drop it in.
Friday, August 25, 2023 National Cinema Day weekend 2023
In the note
We’ve got a few lower tier releases this week, and because of the deep roster at the box-office we continue to enjoy, the weekend total should be a little higher than the 10 year norm for the weekend before Labor Day. Same story as the last couple of weeks, we’ll be a good 50% ahead of last year (The Invitation, Three Thousand Years of Longing) and about 15% behind 2019 (Angel Has Fallen, Overcomer, Ready or Not), but most of the deficit when compared to 2019 is the gross difference from the new films this year vs 2019. We do have a little wrinkle this weekend, Sunday is National Cinema Day. If your first reaction is 'WTF is that?’, you’re not alone because the theater owners have done a piss poor job of publicizing this.