LA Wildfires, East Coast Winter Storms Could Take Toll on Box Office
The box office was already expected to take a significant downturn this weekend with schools resuming and people returning to work after the holidays. But with natural disasters gripping multiple parts of the country, the drop in business could get worse.
In Los Angeles, of course, there are multiple wildfires that have brought many parts of the city to a standstill as more than 9,000 homes and structures are estimated to have been damaged or destroyed in the Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and other areas hit by rapidly spreading blazes.
On Thursday, representatives for AMC and Regal Cinemas say that some of their locations remain closed due to the fires, including the AMC at Universal CityWalk, the Regal at the Paseo in Pasadena, and the Regal UA in La Canada Flintridge.
At time of writing, AMC was still deciding on whether to keep its seven-screen location on the Third Street Promenade closed as it is only blocks away from Palisades Park, where officials have issued a mandatory evacuation order. Arthouse chain Landmark Theaters has closed its locations in Pasadena, Westwood, and on Sunset Boulevard, as well as the historic Nuart Theatre on Santa Monica Boulevard near the 405 Freeway.
Some theaters that were closed on Wednesday have reopened, namely the AMC locations in Topanga and Glendale as well as the Regal at the Sherman Oaks Galleria, which had to close due to power outages in the area.
The only theater known to be directly threatened by the fires is the Netflix-owned Bay Theater in Pacific Palisades. It is located in the Palisades Village developed by former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso, who told the LA Times that the shopping center had suffered damage, though did not go into details on the extent.
While other major multiplexes in the city such as the AMC locations in Burbank and Century City have remained open through the week, exhibitor sources tell TheWrap that they expect moviegoing to significantly slow down as Angelenos, regardless of where they live, stay home due to poor air quality from the wildfire smoke.
Such conditions have already led to the cancellation of all events at the Music Center and Walt Disney Concert Hall, while the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Kings postponed home games scheduled at Crypto.com Arena. On Thursday evening, the NFL announced that the Los Angeles Rams’ playoff game to be held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Monday would be moved to State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona.
In other parts of the country, theaters are expected to either shut down or have business significantly curtailed by Winter Storm Cora, which dropped feet of snow on Texas on Wednesday and led to thousands of flight cancellations and school closures. The storm is making its way across the southern U.S. and could reach the mid-Atlantic coast this weekend.
How much this will all affect the box office remains to be seen. Daily grosses for films currently in theaters took an expected steep drop with the end of the holiday period, but remain slightly above the films released last year.
Wednesday’s highest grossing film was Disney’s “Mufasa” with $1.4 million, followed by Focus’ “Nosferatu” with $1.3 million and Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” with $1.1 million. By comparison, only one film, Sony’s “Anyone But You,” topped $1 million on the second Wednesday of 2024.
Along with the holiday holdovers, this weekend’s offerings at the cinema include Lionsgate’s “Den of Thieves: Pantera,” which is projected for an $11-13 million opening weekend. Paramount will also release the music biopic “Better Man” in 1,200 theaters, where it is expected to gross less than $5 million.
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