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"Lisa Frankenstein" Falls Short at Box Office

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Charles M. Hall

February 11, 2024

Despite high anticipation, the horror comedy film "Lisa Frankenstein" failed to make a splash at the North American box office during its first weekend. Written by Diablo Cody and starring Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse, the movie earned $3.8 million, securing a second-place spot on the charts. However, considering the slow Super Bowl weekend, it is not entirely surprising.

Taking the top spot was Matthew Vaughn's spy thriller "Argylle," which only generated $6.5 million. While this may not be an impressive figure, it did bring the film's domestic total to $28.8 million in just two weekends. The production, with a hefty budget of $200 million, marked Apple's first major theatrical disappointment. Despite Universal Pictures overseeing its North American release in 3,605 locations, "Argylle" has globally earned $60.1 million thus far.

Meanwhile, Focus Features released "Lisa Frankenstein" in 3,144 locations. Set in the 1980s, the film serves as a teenage twist on Mary Shelley's iconic tale. Notably, it also marks the directorial debut of Zelda Williams, the daughter of the late Robin Williams. Reviews were largely mixed to negative, with a 49% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. AP's Mark Kennedy described the film as "a real monster — stitched together from previous movies, painfully incoherent and deeply, deeply dumb."

Exit data revealed that the majority of the audience for "Lisa Frankenstein" were female (61%) and under the age of 35 (71%). Although the opening weekend numbers were low, it is worth noting that the production budget was relatively modest, reportedly standing at $13 million.

Interestingly, "Lisa Frankenstein" is set in the same universe as "Jennifer's Body," another film written by Diablo Cody and directed by Karyn Kusama. While "Jennifer's Body" initially received a lukewarm response from both critics and audiences upon its release in 2009, it has since gained appreciation and developed a cult following over the past 15 years.

In other box office news, "The Beekeeper" secured the third spot in its fifth weekend with an additional $3.5 million. The faith-based series "The Chosen" premiered the first three episodes of its fourth season and claimed the fourth place with $3.2 million in earnings. Rounding out the top five was "Wonka," which brought in $3.1 million.

# Slowest Weekend in Box Office History

The past weekend marks a significant slump in box office revenues, making it the slowest weekend of the year so far. Industry-wide, ticket sales amounted to approximately $40 million, down nearly 25% from the same period last year. Surprisingly, even the notorious football game is not solely to blame for this decline. Prior to the pandemic, this very weekend managed to generate over $75 million in box office earnings. It is worth noting that in 2009, the action-packed film "Taken," starring Liam Neeson, raked in $24.7 million while competing with the Super Bowl. Similarly, in 2015, "American Sniper" brought in a respectable $30.7 million.

However, this year presents a different scenario. Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore, attributes the decrease in ticket sales to various factors, including the unusual amount of attention directed towards this year's Super Bowl, which has seemingly become the pinnacle of entertainment worldwide.

"The movie marketplace has seen very little momentum and there was only one new release this weekend," Dergarabedian commented. "Given these circumstances, it is not surprising that this weekend has set a record for being the lowest-grossing Super Bowl weekend in recent history."

Dergarabedian further explains that studios were cautious when it came to releasing big blockbusters during this weekend. The lack of major releases only added to the overall decline in box office revenues.

Although the future may seem bleak, there is hope on the horizon. The upcoming weeks bring two highly anticipated movies to theaters: "Bob Marley: One Love" and "Madame Web." However, significant growth in ticket sales is not expected until the release of "Dune: Part Two" on March 1.

Dergarabedian reassures us that this downward trend is just part of the cyclical nature of the theater industry, stating, "The box office will recover."

Below are the estimated ticket sales for the past weekend at theaters in the United States and Canada, according to Comscore. The final domestic figures will be released on Monday.