Part 9/11:
As the weekend draws to a close, industry insiders are revising expectations downward. The industry’s traditional Memorial Day blockbuster may have been replaced by a more subdued box office landscape, reminiscent of the lows seen in the mid-1990s. Notably, the last film to open with such a modest gross on Memorial Day was Casper in 1995, which debuted with just $22 million.
This scenario raises broader questions about the health of summer movie season and the viability of high-cost franchise films without guaranteed audience loyalty or blockbuster word-of-mouth. The underwhelming performances of Furiosa and its costly production cast doubts on earlier forecasts for highly anticipated titles like Pixar's Inside Out 2, which was pegged to reach over $80 million at opening.