Now that businesses are beginning to reopen, Americans are returning to the movies.
Over the weekend, “A Quiet Place Part II” broke a pandemic record by grossing $57 million domestically. Internationally, the movie grossed $22 million, putting its box office total at close to $80 million overall.
“All are the biggest domestic numbers in the pandemic-era and — more significantly — are almost on par with the first Quiet Place, which posted a three-day debut of $50.2 million in 2018,” reported The Hollywood Reporter (THR). “The sequel’s loud performance is a victory for Paramount and the theatrical experience and proves that the box office is righting itself after 15 months of being ravaged by the COVID-19 crisis.”
In order to promote the big-screen experience prior to the film’s transfer to the streaming service Paramount+ in 45 days, director/actor John Krasinski took a six-city tour over the past week to make surprise appearances at screenings.
“‘A Quiet Place II’ has the advantage of getting an exclusive theatrical release before hitting sister streaming service Paramount+ in 45 days. As part of the marketing campaign, Krasinski completed a six-city tour surprising audiences in order to promote the big screen experience. Paramount distribution president Chris Aronson declared the box-office victory a “huge win” for theatrical moviegoing.
“This is a huge win for theatrical,” said Aronson. “The theatrical business has been changed numerous times throughout history but never to the point where theaters were shut down for months and months.”
“It’s quite astounding that A Quiet Place Part II could generate the kind of box office that would be considered impressive in the pre-pandemic era and rank this performance in the top echelon of horror movie debuts,” said Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian.
Releasing “A Quiet Place Part II” exclusively in theaters prior to its streaming transfer was an undoubtedly risky affair, something that Disney did not even attempt with its release of “Cruella,” which took home $26.5 million in the box office while simultaneously being offered for $30 on Disney+ Premier Access. Overall, Hollywood earned $100 million domestically on Memorial Day weekend. Analyst Shawn Robbins hailed the victory as a “giant leap forward.”
“This is a giant leap forward from where the industry has been throughout the past year, and a table-setting weekend for what sustained recovery will look like throughout summer and beyond. The optics and symbolism of large audiences safely returning to cinemas outweigh the box office dollars themselves, but these numbers are still quite impressive even by pre-pandemic standards,” Robbins said.
“A Quiet Place Part II” earned rave reviews from critics and audiences alike. Currently, the film holds a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.0 rating on IMDB. The overall consensus hailed the movie for managing to grip the viewers while side-stepping some of its more glaring flaws.
“There are nitpicks – some small, some a little bigger – but mostly, ‘A Quiet Place Part II’ does its job by giving viewers more and leaving them wanting even more. That’s the modern franchise way,” wrote Adam Graham of Detroit News.