While “Bob Marley: One Love” is shaping up to be a box office success for Paramount, its strong start isn’t enough to keep the struggling theatrical market from suffering its worst Presidents’ Day weekend in 28 years.
Industry estimates have overall totals for the 4-day weekend topping out at approximately $92 million, with “Bob Marley” leading the charts with $34.1 million from Fri.-Mon. That overall total is not only 45% down from the $168.7 million Presidents’ Day weekend total grossed last year, but marks the first time since 1996 — excluding 2021 when most theaters were still closed — that overall totals for the February holiday period have failed to eclipse $100 million.
“Bob Marley: One Love” certainly isn’t at fault, given that its $52 million 6-day domestic launch is well above the $35 million projections that trackers had before its Valentine’s Day release. This is a symptom of the early-year slate being left depleted by strike-related release delays, a lack of early-year tentpoles like “Black Panther” or “Fifty Shades of Grey,” and underperforming holdovers like Apple’s “Argylle” that sent the box office into a deep slump through Super Bowl weekend.
Last year, the overall gross for February reached just shy of $500 million, still below the $638 million grossed in February 2020 just before the pandemic shut down theaters, but much higher than what February 2024 will yield. Through Sunday, the overall domestic gross for this month sits at just $243 million, down 20% year-over-year.
True relief for the box office won’t come until March, when multiple tentpoles are set for release including Warner Bros./Legendary’s “Dune: Part Two” and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” Universal/DreamWorks’ “Kung Fu Panda 4” and Sony’s “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.” Sustained runs from all of these films over multiple weeks, along with continued turnout for “Bob Marley,” will be required for the box office to return to a healthy state.
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