Why did “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” drop 67% in the second week of the box office? This audience survey agency is very powerful

Last week, there were no major new films released in the Northern America market. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” topped the list with $61 million (rough estimate), but fell 67% from last week, the third-highest drop in the MCU.

The new film “Firestarter‎” only ranked fourth with $3.8 million, and it was simultaneously launched on streaming media.

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”‘s next-week drop was only lower in the MCU than “Black Widow” 67.8% and “The Incredible Hulk‎” 70%.

The industry believes that the main reason for the fall is that CinemaScore only has a rating of B+ (the rating of ordinary audiences in theaters).

The high decline of “Black Widow” is related to the simultaneous launch of the film on Disney streaming media, and “The Incredible Hulk‎” is purely film quality.

Last year’s box office hit “Spider-Man: No Way Home” scored A+, but why did it drop by 67.5% in the next week?

Because the second Friday of the film happened to be Christmas Eve, most Americans went shopping or reunited that night. The box office rebounded on the weekdays after Christmas, and eventually made Northern America $800 million.

The superhero film category fell even higher than “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” with a 69% drop in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” which has a CinemaScore of only a B.

CinemaScore official website

Additional background knowledge:

CinemaScore is an investigative agency founded in 1979 and headquartered in Las Vegas. The company insists on surveying audience ratings of the movie-watching experience in theaters.

The company’s founder’s son said his father wanted to hear what “real people, not critics” had to say about the film beforehand.

Unlike the Rotten Tomatoes Fresh Index, CinemaScore is only awarded after a movie is released.

Currently, there are 35 to 45 theater rating survey teams in 25 cities in Northern America. Each time a new film is released, representatives from the company’s randomly selected city will send out a survey card to premiere-day viewers on Friday.

Cards ask viewers their age, gender, the movie’s A+ to F rating, whether to rent or buy a DVD or Blu-ray version of the movie, and the reason for choosing the movie.

Typically 400 cards are returned per studio, and the company estimates a 65 percent response rate with a 6 percent margin of error. Reviews are by gender and age group (under 21, 21-34, 35 and over).

Their survey included willingness to rent discs and stream media, breaking down demographics by age and gender.

The company used a relatively clumsy method to come up with the most accurate audience evaluations, which were recognized by film company executives and slowly became the industry standard.

According to a Hollywood executive, their rating “is not always correct, but it is a very good indicator that has gradually become reliant.”

The new version of “Firestarter‎” has bad reviews

The new film “Firestarter‎” released by Universal Pictures has a CinemaScore of C-, which is too low, although horror films are generally not rated very high.

The film was released simultaneously on the streaming media Peacock, so it only received $3.8 million at the box office in the first weekend, ranking fourth in the weekend. The investment in the film is only 12 million US dollars, which would be too great a loss for Universal.

Other films ranked second, with “The Bad Guys” earning $6.89 million in its fourth weekend. Northern America accumulated US$66.28 million, and the global total was US$165 million (RMB 130 million in the Mainland)

“Sonic the Hedgehog 2” finished third with $4.55 million in its sixth weekend. Northern America accumulated $175 million and global accumulated $355 million.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” finished fifth with $3.3 million in its eighth weekend. Northern America has accumulated a total of 47.1 million US dollars and a global total of 51.82 million US dollars. The streaming media will be launched on May 17.

New movie this weekend

“Downton Abbey: A New Era‎” (romance/drama) Universal Pictures

Director: Simon Curtis
Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery

Plot: In this film, the King and Queen of England visit the Crawley family and the staff of Downton Abbey.

“Men‎” (drama/sci-fi/horror) A24 release

Director: Alex Garland
Starring: Jessie Buckley, Rory Kinnear

Plot: The story of a young woman who goes on a holiday in the English countryside alone after her ex-husband’s death.

Related Post: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: Skilled order about the Multiverse?