The spy thriller “Argylle” topped the domestic box office in its opening weekend, but some Hollywood insiders said it performed poorly based on its reported budget.
The film, produced by Apple Original Films and distributed by Universal, ranked No. 1 and grossed $18 million over the weekend, according to Comscore estimates. “This is a weak opening for a new action comedy that was written to be the first in a trilogy of films,” David Gross wrote in the film franchise industry newsletter FranchiseRe. “At an estimated cost of 200 million dollars[illion]“As the beginning of a series, the weekend premiere is below average.”
Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
“Argylle,” starring actors Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell and Henry Cavill, was critically panned and received a score of 35% on Rotten Tomatoes. It generated a top audience score of 70% on the movie review aggregator site.
The results come as movie theaters are struggling to attract audiences in 2024. The domestic box office so far this year is down 13% in revenue, compared to last year, in part due to shuffling of charts of movies amid last summer's two Hollywood strikes, Paul said. Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
“There's no way to sugarcoat it,” he said. “So far this year, this is a difficult road.”
The growth of streaming services during the pandemic has also given consumers alternative ways to watch new and original movies.
Behind “Argylle” at the domestic box office this weekend was the religious series “The Chosen,” which brought the first three episodes of its fourth season to theaters for an estimated $6 million, according to Comscore. In third place was the action movie “The Beekeeper,” which opened Jan. 12 and generated about $5.3 million, the research firm said. The film starring Jason Statham has grossed $49.4 domestically in its first four weeks.
Dergarabedian said he is hopeful that notable titles like “Dune: Part 2,” which will be released in March, will help draw more audiences to movie theaters.
“Once we get there, I think we'll start to build momentum as we get closer to summer, because there are really a lot of great movies on the release schedule for 2024,” he said.
