Theater Counts: Crush of Newcomers Dampens Opening Numbers

October 12, 2017

This weekend and the four before it have been the five busiest weekends for new releases in 2017, with an average of just over 30 films being released in theaters each week, by our count. Aside from sending our data team scrambling, it makes it hard for distributors to secure screens, and the results can be seen in the theater counts for this weekend, and the current projections for next weekend. Happy Death Day has a shot at winning the weekend, but won’t be helped by playing in more than 900 fewer theaters than incumbent champion Blade Runner 2049. Death Day’s 3,149 venues, however, is quite a bit more than its competition.

The Foreigner will debut in 2,515 locations; Professor Marston & The Wonder Women opens in 1,229 theaters; and Marshall will only just scrape over the “wide” bar with 821 playdates.

Also adding to the crush is Only the Brave, which is getting 604 sneak previews in double-bills with Flatliners. It’s hard to tell whether a film about firefighters is well- or poorly-timed right now, and we won’t know for sure until the film opens for real in a week’s time. Sony expects it to play in 2,400 theaters when it does.

Geostorm is expected to be the widest new release next time around, in a respectable-but-not-spectacular 3,000 locations. Also opening wide next weekend, and adding even more to the bulging schedule, are Tyler Perry’s Boo 2! A Madea Halloween in 2,250 theaters, or so, and The Snowman, which will play in around 1,800.

Bruce Nash

Filed under: Theater Counts