Sony Pictures Entertainment is hoping for a box office hit with its new R-rated comedy film, No Hard Feelings, starring Jennifer Lawrence. The film premiered on Thursday and grossed $2.15 million from showtimes that began at 4 p.m. at 2,745 locations. The studio hopes the film will bring in around $12 million over the weekend, but analysts predict it could earn up to $24 million if it has a good hold. There are no post-pandemic comparisons for No Hard Feelings since it’s been a while since a raunchy comedy has been released. The film did better than Universal’s female-leaning rom-com Ticket to Paradise, which made $1.1 million off Thursday showtimes that began at 5 p.m. (even though that pic is skewed to an older audience and rated PG-13). For director Gene Stupnitsky, who also directed Good Boys, a previous R-rated comedy that grossed $83.1 million, No Hard Feelings represents a new high point for raunchy fare. Whether or not the film achieves the same level of success remains to be seen, since the industry has conditioned audiences to watch comedies at home on streaming services rather than in theaters.
Asteroid City Enjoys a Strong Start
Meanwhile, Focus Features’ expansion of Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City is also off to a strong start, with $1.1 million from 1,400 theaters in previews on Thursday. The film will expand to 1,675 theaters this weekend after posting the best opening theater average post-pandemic with $140,000. The movie is expected to make single digits in its second weekend. Anderson’s previous movie, The French Dispatch, grossed over $2 million when it went to a 1,000-plus theater break during its third weekend. Asteroid City is currently certified fresh with 74% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a notch below where French Dispatch was at 75%. The film achieved 76% with audiences on RT versus Asteroid City, which is currently at 69%. The PostTrak rating for Asteroid City is also 4 stars, but 79% positive.
Summer Box Office Performance
The summer box office from May 1 to June 19 has already reached $1.52 billion from 11 wide releases (north of 2,000 theaters). This is 2.3% ahead of last summer, which had six wide releases and grossed $1.49 billion for the frame. However, the 2023 summer box office is still 11% behind pre-pandemic 2019, which had grossed $1.7 billion for the period of May 1-June 19 off of 17 wide releases (north of 2,000 locations).
Sony Pictures Entertainment hopes to revive the comedy genre with the release of No Hard Feelings, which stars Jennifer Lawrence. The film premiered on Thursday and grossed $2.15 million from showtimes that began at 4 p.m. at 2,745 locations. The studio hopes the film will bring in around $12 million over the weekend, but analysts predict it could earn up to $24 million if it has a good hold. Meanwhile, Focus Features’ expansion of Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City is also off to a strong start, with $1.1 million from 1,400 theaters in previews on Thursday. The summer box office from May 1 to June 19 has already reached $1.52 billion from 11 wide releases (north of 2,000 theaters), which is 2.3% ahead of last summer, but still 11% behind pre-pandemic 2019.