As mentioned above, there are no huge new releases this week — but that doesn’t mean there are no new releases. We’ve been keeping an eye on the Mark Wahlberg-led, dog-focused, true story-based “Arthur the King,” since it has a similar recipe to 2022’s surprise hit “Dog”: tough guy lead actor (Channing Tatum, in that movie’s case) goes on a heartwarming odyssey with an adorable canine. After grossing $3 million on Friday it looks like “Arthur the King” will fall short of the $14 million opening weekend that “Dog” enjoyed, but it’s still off to a decent start, tracking for an opening weekend in the region of $8 million. With a production budget of less than $20 million, the movie doesn’t need to do huge numbers to succeed. The feel-good story of “Arthur the King” earned an A CinemaScore from opening night audience polling, which could bode well for its performance in the weeks to come.
“Love Lies Bleeding,” the second feature film from “Saint Maud” director Rose Glass, expanded to 1,362 locations this week following a limited debut last weekend. Per Variety, it’s on track for a $2.5 million opening weekend — not a huge start, but not atypical for prestige indie distributor A24, which tends to rely on slow but steady ticket sales rather than big opening weekends. The highly-anticipated crime thriller/romance has earned rave reviews, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 92% as of this writing. You can read /Film’s review here.
The other arthouse expansion this week is “The American Society of Magical Negroes,” the directorial debut from comedian and actor Kobi Libii, which is underperforming in the wake of pretty dismal reviews. The Focus Features pic is tracking to gross around $1 million from 1,147 locations.
