A Quiet Place Part II‘s record-breaking opening box office numbers prove that movie theaters are back. Directed by John Krasinski, A Quiet Place was a critical and financial hit when it premiered back in 2018. The sci-fi horror topped $300 million at the worldwide box office on a $17 million budget, and unsurprisingly, Paramount announced a sequel shortly after the first film came out.
It’s no secret that movie theaters have taken a massive hit since first closing over a year ago due to the coronavirus pandemic. Initially set for release in March 2020, A Quiet Place Part II was one of the first major blockbusters to have its release delayed. The long-awaited sequel finally hit theaters this Memorial Day weekend where it debuted exclusively thanks to Paramount forgoing the combined theatrical/streaming releases other studios have turned to during the pandemic. A Quiet Place II has received highly positive reviews and moviegoers have been flocking to see it. With the domestic box office at an all time-low this past year, A Quiet Place Part II‘s opening weekend numbers are a sign theaters may be back in business.
Variety reports that A Quiet Place Part II has grossed an impressive $48 million between Friday and Sunday, exceeding expectations and breaking the record for the biggest opening weekend of the pandemic. Currently playing in 3,726 theaters, the film is expected to gross $58 million through Memorial Day on Monday. Though the sequel’s budget is a bit more than the original’s, coming in at $61 million, A Quiet Place II looks to be in no trouble of earning itself a strong profit.
These numbers also prove that movie theaters are making a revival, as they are very close to what the movie was projected to make last year in its original release date. Last year’s U.S. opening weekend was expected to hit $60 million, not far off from this year’s $58 million. It also potentially could have reached $60 million if all theaters had been open this weekend.
While many studios chose to pull their films from theaters and send them straight to streaming during the pandemic era, Paramount’s decision to keep holding off to release A Quiet Place Part II until vaccines have been distributed and people were more comfortable returning to theaters was certainly the right one. The post-apocalyptic film has all of the right elements to make it such a success at theaters, too, given the buzz surrounding the sequel and how it uses a theater’s superior sound to its advantage. After a year of barely any blockbuster releases, audiences are ready to return to theaters to get that big screen experience. Thanks to the horror sequel, movie theaters are enjoying a successful start to summer.
