Alternative Superheroes Shine: 'Weapons' and 'Freakier Friday' Impress; Reason Behind Locarno Film Festival's Weight in the Industry
In the ever-evolving world of cinema, mid-sized European film festivals are gaining strategic importance, as discussed by John Hopewell, a veteran international editor at Variety. Based in Madrid but travelling the globe for Variety, Hopewell emphasised the increased coverage and buzz generated by festivals like the Locarno film festival in Switzerland.
The Locarno festival recently made headlines for presenting its Leopard Club career achievement award to Emma Thompson on August 8. This prestigious event underscores the festival's growing significance in the global film business.
The upcoming release of "Tron: Ares" on October 10 is highly anticipated, marking a much-needed drought-breaking event in the otherwise weak slate of movies for the next few weeks, until mid-October.
In a bid to offer alternative genres and stories to audiences saturated with superhero films, the strategic release of Weapons and Freakier Friday has proven to be a successful counterprogramming effort.
Weapons, an R-rated horror mystery film by Zach Cregger, opened strong with $43.5 million domestically, demonstrating exceptional hold and reaching a domestic total exceeding $90 million. Its worldwide total crossed $160 million within weeks, outperforming major competitors.
Freakier Friday, a Disney sequel/comedy starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, leveraged nostalgic appeal but also faced challenges from the modern demand for fresh content outside of franchise reboots. Despite these hurdles, it managed to earn a solid $14.28 million in its third week, demonstrating that non-superhero counterprogramming can still succeed financially by targeting specific demographics.
The success of Weapons and Freakier Friday at the box office is a win for superhero counterprogramming efforts and moderately budgeted movies. Theaters are now pushing studios to think about releasing multiple new genres of movies each weekend to attract more foot traffic.
This strategic approach allows studios like Warner Bros. and Disney to capitalise on viewer fatigue or desire for variety, contributing to the commercial success of these films. The Locarno and San Sebastian film festivals in Europe, which have developed the most sophisticated industry sections, attractions, and debates, are prime examples of this trend. Since the addition of a business element, festivals like San Sebastian and Locarno have copied Rotterdam to attract buyers, producers, and sales agents.
In summary, the significant box office gains of Weapons and Freakier Friday demonstrate that carefully timed counterprogramming—offering alternative genres like horror and nostalgic comedies—can attract diverse audiences and sustain box office momentum even amid a common era of superhero dominance. This strategic release approach is set to continue shaping the film industry landscape in the years to come.
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