We've seen a number of great counterprogramming examples in recent years when it comes to the Hollywood release schedule. Two titles with very different target audiences arrive in theaters on the same weekend, and the hope is that as each inspires significant ticket sales while catering to specific movie-goers, the whole industry gets a boost. The biggest success story is obviously Barbenheimer, which generated its own big screen phenomenon a couple years ago... but it doesn't always work as, as evidenced this weekend.
Justin Tipping's HIM and Kogonada's A Big Bold Beautiful Journey couldn't be more different as cinematic exercises, with the former being a surreal, nightmarish horror film and the latter being a sweet, romantic fantasy, but what they now share in common in addition to a release date is underwhelming box office numbers. Both features arrived in theaters this weekend hoping to bring a wide assortment of film-lovers to cinemas, but neither managed to generate any hype at all – leaving Haruo Sotozaki's Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle to win the domestic box office again (despite a crazy weekend-to-weekend fall). Check out the Top 10 results in the chart below and join me after for analysis.
