LOS ANGELES -- 鈥淪pider-Man: No Way Home鈥 has swung back on top of the box office during a holiday weekend where American theatres aimed to lure moviegoers with discounted $3 tickets.
The first 鈥淣ational Cinema Day鈥 countrywide promotion appeared to work with the highest-attended day of the year, drawing an estimated 8.1 million moviegoers on Saturday, according to The Cinema Foundation. The one-day event 鈥 offered on more than 30,000 screens and held in more than 3,000 theatres, including major chains AMC and Regal Cinemas 鈥 collected preliminary box office returns of $24.3 million, according the Comscore.
National Cinema Day was intended to flood theatres with moviegoers during a Labour Day weekend, which is traditionally one of the slowest weekends in the industry. The promotion looked to prompt people to return in the fall, inspired by a sizzle reel of the upcoming films from major studios including Disney, Lionsgate, Sony and A24.
鈥淭his event outstripped our biggest expectations,鈥 said Jackie Brenneman, president of the Cinema Foundation, a non-profit arm of the National Association of Theatre Owners, in a statement. 鈥淭he idea of the day was to thank moviegoers for an amazing summer, and now we have to thank them for an amazing day.鈥
Some other countries have experimented with a similar day of cheap movie tickets, but Saturday's promotion was the first of its kind on such a large scale in the U.S. Organizers of the National Cinema Day said the event could become an annual fixture.
鈥淭his proves that people love going to the theatres,鈥 said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore. 鈥淧ricing is always a consideration.鈥
The top three performing movie titles for the day included Tom Cruise's 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick,鈥 The Rock and Kevin Hart's 鈥淒C League of Super Pets鈥 and Brad Pitt's 鈥淏ullet Train.鈥 Another top draw was 鈥淪pider-Man: No Way Home,鈥 which recaptured the No. 1 box office spot for the weekend.
With never-seen footage, the re-release of the Sony and Marvel blockbuster superhero film starring Tom Holland and Zendaya brought in an estimated $6 million. 鈥淭op Gun鈥 followed with $5.5 million, 鈥淪uper Pets鈥 garnered $5.45 million, 鈥淏ullet Train鈥 pulled in $5.4 million and last week's top earner 鈥淭he Invitation鈥 grossed $4.7 million to round out the top five.
The re-release of Steven Spielberg's 1975 classic 鈥淛aws,鈥 on big screens for the first time in 3D, nabbed the final spot among the weekend's top 10 performers.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
- 鈥淪pider-Man: No Way Home,鈥 $6 million.
- 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick,鈥 $5.5 million.
- 鈥淒C League of Super Pets,鈥 $5.45 million.
- 鈥淏ullet Train,鈥 $5.4 million.
- 鈥淭he Invitation,鈥 $4.7 million.
- 鈥淏east,鈥 $3.6 million.
- 鈥淢innions: The Rise of Gru,鈥 $3.1 million.
- 鈥淭hor: Love and Thunder,鈥 $2.4 million.
- 鈥淒ragon Ball Super: Super Hero,鈥 $2.4 million.
- 鈥淛aws鈥 (1975), $2.3 million.
