'Free Guy' debuts at No. 1 with surprisingly strong $28.4 million

LOS ANGELES, Aug 15, (Variety.com) – Despite concerns the delta variant would keep moviegoers at home, Ryan Reynolds’ sci-fi action comedy Free Guy had a better-than-expected start at the domestic box office.

From Disney and 20th Century Studios, the movie collected $26 million from 4,165 North American theatres. Given its production budget was above $100 million, those ticket sales wouldn’t be much to celebrate in pre-pandemic times but isn’t a bad result as a plague sweeps the globe.

Overseas, Free Guy amassed $22.5 million for a global tally of $51 million.

Free Guy marks an interesting test for the film exhibition industry because it’s playing exclusively in theatres, which is a rarity these days. Many high-profile films that premiered during the pandemic, such as Marvel’s Black Widow and The Suicide Squad, were available on streaming platforms on the same day as their theatrical debuts.

The few films offered only in theatres, like Universal’s F9, Emily Blunt and John Krasinski’s follow-up A Quiet Place Part II and Paramount’s G.I. Joe origin story Snake Eyes, were all sequels in popular film franchises, unlike Free Guy.

Though COVID-19 is undoubtedly deterring people from visiting their local multiplex, Free Guy – which is directed by Shawn Levy and co-starring Jodie Comer and Taika Waititi – had several factors working in its favour.

Thanks to strong reviews and an “A” CinemaScore from audiences, it enjoyed positive word-of-mouth over the weekend. The PG-13 film also benefitted because it appealed to older males, a demographic that has appeared to be less wary about returning to the big screen.

In the case of Free Guy, 59% of opening weekend ticket buyers were male and nearly 80% were above the age of 18. Movies geared toward younger crowds, like Disney’s Jungle Cruise, Space Jam: A New Legacy, have been harder sells because families, especially those with unvaccinated children, have been more reluctant to go to theatres.

David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, says Free Guy had “a very good opening under difficult conditions.” Still, he points out, the movie business isn’t close to returning to normalcy because COVID-19 cases continue to surge and vaccination efforts have slowed.

“Moviegoing has shown flashes of strength during the summer, but the Delta variant has dampened any sustained improvement above 50%,” Gross says. “In a healthy market, movies would be opening considerably higher and holding better.”

This weekend’s other new nationwide releases, Sony’s thriller Don’t Breathe 2 and MGM’s Aretha Franklin biopic Respect, each arrived in line with expectations, though neither did much to galvanize ticket buyers.