In the United States, a film's box office gross in its second weekend of theatrical release is one of several factors used to predict overall box office performance. Most films experience a decline in box office gross in their second weekend, but a significant decline often indicates a subpar box office performance for the rest of a film's theatrical run. Some films are exceptions in that they perform better in their second weekend of release than on opening weekend.

Second-weekend drop

During a film's theatrical run, its box office performance generally declines from weekend to weekend. In addition to the film's opening-weekend gross, the percentage of the change between the opening weekend and the second weekend is used as a gauge for a film's commercial success.[1] Assuming that the number of theaters stays the same, a normal drop in box office gross from the first weekend to the second would be 40%. A drop of greater than 60% indicates a weak future performance.[1] Horror films are susceptible to having large drops in the second weekend and beyond even after a strong opening weekend.[2] Chris Anderson, in his 2008 book The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More, said twenty years prior, the average film experienced a second weekend drop of less than 30% and that the contemporary drop was now around 50%. Anderson ascribed the change to moviegoers being able to better identify mediocre and bad films through more information, both from more reviews and greater word-of-mouth.[3] Slate in 2012 also reported a progressively increasing second weekend drop over the course of the last several decades. In the 1980s, the average second weekend drop was 15.7%. The 1990s saw the drop gradually climb to 21.5%, but by 2012 this had escalated all the way up to 49.1%.[4] A lack of venues is usually not a factor as theaters have an obligation to show a film for at least two weeks.[5]

The Los Angeles Times said the second-weekend drop was seasonal in the United States. Between May and July, the country's summer season, films have more significant drops than during the rest of the year. It reported that in May 2014, three opening blockbuster films—The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Godzilla, and X-Men: Days of Future Past—all had drops of over 60% where films earlier in the 21st century rarely had drops that steep. The newspaper cited possible reasons for the drops: that the films did not "inspire long-term moviegoing", and that alternative platforms such as Redbox, Netflix, and video on demand attracted film audiences who missed a film's opening weekend.[6] The Hollywood Reporter said in 2017, "Generally speaking, a superhero film can fall 60 percent," highlighting Wonder Woman's second-weekend drop of 45% as scant compared to others in the genre.[7] Specific weekends during the year are known for poor box office and may lead to large drops, such as the first weekend of December following Thanksgiving when consumers begin shopping, and Super Bowl weekend.[8][9]

The box office website Box Office Mojo ranks the following films by biggest second weekend drops during their wide release in the United States, which means screening in at least 600 theaters. The website bases its ranking on box office performance data from 1982 onward.[10]

Top ten films by second weekend drop
Rank Film Year in
wide release 		Opening
weekend ($) 		Second
weekend ($) 		Change
(%) 		Theaters
(second weekend)
1 Collide 2017 1,512,824 173,620 −88.5 1,002
2 Undiscovered 2005 676,048 91,748 −86.5 754
3 Slow Burn 2007 778,123 119,150 −84.7 755
4 Jane Got a Gun 2016 835,572 137,523 −83.5 1,031
5 Before I Go to Sleep 2014 1,843,347 331,708 −82.0 820
6 Gigli 2003 3,753,518 678,640 −81.9 2,215
7 Bad Moon 1996 607,081 112,397 −81.5 649
8 Return to the Blue Lagoon 1991 1,277,428 245,814 −80.8 1,222
9 Friday the 13th 2009 40,570,365 7,942,472 −80.4 3,105
10 The Brothers Solomon 2007 508,601 100,230 −80.3 700

The 2012 family film The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure, though not in wide release, set a record for biggest second-weekend drop. It opened in 2,160 theaters and grossed $443,901 over the opening weekend. In its second weekend, it screened in 281 theaters and grossed $43,854, which was a 90.1% drop.[11][12]

Second-weekend increases and smallest drops

An increase in a film's box office gross in its second weekend, provided that the number of theaters did not grow substantially, is considered exceptional. For example, the 1997 film Titanic had an opening weekend gross of $28.64 million and with only a small increase in the number of theaters, its second-weekend gross (which fell immediately after Christmas) was $35.45 million, a 24% increase from the previous weekend.[1]

Box Office Mojo reported in 2018 that out of over 4,700 wide-release films that were assessed, only 208 (or around 4%) saw an increased gross in their second weekend.[13] Nearly every film to increase its gross in its second weekend benefitted from a holiday boosting attendance, with the vast majority having a second weekend falling on Christmas or New Year's, often the most-attended single week of the year; Memorial Day and Thanksgiving also boost attendance.[14][15]

The top ten are listed below:

Top ten films with second-weekend increase in 600+ theaters
Rank Film Year in
wide release 		Opening
weekend ($) 		Second
weekend ($) 		Change
(%) 		Theaters
(second weekend)
1 Little Women 1994 2,411,247 6,776,403 +181.0 1,574
2 Rumor Has It 2005 3,473,155 9,364,661 +169.6 2,815
3 One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) 1985 2,389,226 5,715,836 +139.2 1,180
4 Kiss Me Goodbye 1982 1,345,672 2,845,627 +111.5 803
5 Grumpy Old Men 1993 3,874,911 7,488,527 +93.3 1,244
6 War Horse 2011 7,515,402 14,422,729 +91.9 2,547
7 A Christmas Story 1983 2,072,473 3,935,944 +89.9 938
8 All the Pretty Horses 2000 1,304,971 2,477,053 +89.8 1,593
9 Lady and the Tramp (1955) 1986 2,804,272 5,030,706 +79.4 1,375
10 Out of Africa 1985 3,637,290 6,504,397 +78.8 922

Box Office Mojo reports that 20 films (out of over 1,000 assessed) have opened in over 3,000 theaters and increased in gross in their second weekend.[16]

Films with second weekend increase in 3,000+ theaters
Rank Film Year in
wide release 		Opening
weekend ($) 		Second
weekend ($) 		Change
(%) 		Theaters
(second weekend)
1 The Greatest Showman 2017 8,805,843 15,520,732 +76.3 3,316
2 Cheaper by the Dozen 2 2005 9,309,387 14,486,519 +55.6 3,211
3 We Bought a Zoo 2011 9,360,434 13,238,241 +41.4 3,163
4 Sound of Freedom 2023 19,680,879 27,280,179 +39 3,265
5 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle 2017 36,169,328 50,051,364 +38.4 3,765
6 Puss in Boots: The Last Wish 2022 12,429,515 16,815,340 +35.3 4,121
7 Mother's Day 2016 8,369,184 11,087,076 +32.5 3,141
8 The Wild Thornberrys Movie 2002 6,013,847 7,364,432 +22.5 3,012
9 Sing 2016 35,258,145 42,896,330 +21.7 4,029
10 Night at the Museum 2006 30,433,781 36,766,905 +20.8 3,768


Among films to open in over 3,000 theaters without a holiday to benefit their second weekend, 2011's Puss in Boots posted the best hold, falling only 3%, while the 6.4% drop for 2018's Crazy Rich Asians was the best for both a live-action and adult-skewing film.[15] The following films had the strongest second weekend holds without the benefit of a holiday:[16]

Films with smallest weekend decrease in 3,000+ theaters, non-holiday weekends
Rank Film Year in
wide release 		Opening
weekend ($) 		Second
weekend ($) 		Change
(%) 		Theaters
(second weekend)
1 Puss in Boots 2011 34,077,439 33,054,644 −3 3,963
2 Crazy Rich Asians 2018 26,510,140 24,808,202 −6.4 3,526
3 Flushed Away 2006 18,814,323 16,606,526 −11.7 3,707
4 The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause 2006 19,504,038 16,927,004 −13.2 3,458
5 The Santa Clause 2 2002 29,008,696 24,734,523 −14.7 3,352
6 Argo 2012 19,458,109 16,445,475 −15.5 3,247
7 Taken 2009 24,717,037 20,547,346 −16.9 3,184
8 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2009 30,304,648 25,038,803 −17.4 3,119
9 The Shaggy Dog 2006 16,310,058 13,377,363 −18 3,501
10 Smile 2022 22,609,925 18,542,568 −18 3,659

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Mathijs, Ernest (2006). Lord of the Rings: Popular Culture in Global Context. Wallflower Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-904764-82-3.
  2. ^ Langford, Barry (2006). Film Genre: Hollywood and Beyond. Edinburgh University Press. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-7486-1903-0.
  3. ^ Anderson, Chris (2008). The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More. Hyperion. p. 233. ISBN 978-1-4013-0966-4.
  4. ^ Pagels, Jim (July 23, 2012). "Why Batman Had No Competition at the Box Office". Slate. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  5. ^ Fahey, Mark (2015-11-17). "Why movies are sometimes here and gone in theaters". CNBC. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
  6. ^ Zeitchik, Steven (June 3, 2014). "What's causing sales for recent big films to drop sharply after their first weekend?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  7. ^ McClintock, Pamela (June 10, 2017). "Weekend Box Office: 'The Mummy' Entombed With $32M U.S. Debut". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  8. ^ "Weekend Box Office Forecast: Encanto and Ghostbusters: Afterlife to Lead Post-Thanksgiving Lull; Does Christmas with The Chosen Have Sleeper Potential?". Boxoffice. 2021-12-02. Retrieved 2022-01-11.
  9. ^ "Weekend Box Office Forecast: The Little Things & Holdovers to Remain In Charge Over Super Bowl Weekend". Boxoffice. 2021-02-04. Retrieved 2022-01-11.
  10. ^ "Biggest Second Weekend Drops". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
  11. ^ Cunningham, Todd (September 10, 2012). "'Oogieloves' Sets Another Box Office Record: Biggest 2nd-Week Drop". The Wrap. The Wrap News Inc. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  12. ^ "Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  13. ^ "Smallest Second Weekend Drops – Wide Releases 600+". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  14. ^ Whitten, Sarah (2019-12-23). "This is the most important week of the year for movie theater owners". CNBC. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
  15. ^ a b Mendelson, Scott. "Box Office: 'Crazy Rich Asians' Takes Unprecedented Drop In Its Second Weekend". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
  16. ^ a b "Smallest Second Weekend Drops – Super Saturated 3,000+". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 13, 2018.

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