Musicals often get off to a slow start, even more so when they are released in mid-December.
“The Greatest Showman,” for instance, collected $8.8 million over its first three days in domestic theaters in December 2017 and was insta-written off as a box office embarrassment.
In a results email on Sunday, Disney, which released “West Side Story” on its 20th Century Studios label, noted that ticket buyers gave the film an A grade in CinemaScore exit polls.
In release in 37 international markets, including in some countries where the Omicron variant has prompted governments to tighten safeguards, “West Side Story” took in $4.4 million.
“West Side Story,” based on the 1957 Broadway musical, cost an estimated $100 million to remake, not including tens of millions of dollars in marketing costs.
In the United States and Canada, turnout for “West Side Story” was largest among ticket buyers over the age of 55.
Gross, who runs the film consultancy Franchise Entertainment Research, said in an email on Sunday.
Among A-list filmmakers, Spielberg is one of the last streaming holdouts.
So it was distressing for Hollywood traditionalists to see “West Side Story” arrive to even lower ticket sales than “In the Heights.” That euphorically reviewed Warner Bros.
Live-action musicals have long been a challenged genre at the box office.