A new legacy’ surprise victory that defeated the’Black Widow’ Reuters

By Rebecca Rubin

Los Angeles (Variety.com)-Tune Squad dominated the stadium and box office charts this weekend. In an unexpected victory, LeBron James and the Looney Animation team’s “Space Slam Dunk: New Legacy” won the game with $31.6 million in ticket sales.

The sequel to Warner Bros.’s 1996 “Slam Dunk in Space” exceeded expectations, and it is expected that the film will bring in $20 million in revenue in the first three days of its release. Critics rejected “Space Traffic Jam: New Legacy” (it had an average score of 31% on Rotten Tomatoes), but the audience seemed to accept the film and awarded it an “A-” CinemaScore. “Space Jam 2” is shown in 3,965 theaters in North America, and subscribers can be charged for free on HBO Max.

“The marketing of this movie looks really interesting, and it helps remind audiences everywhere,” said Jeff Goldstein, president of Warner Bros. domestic distribution.

The better-than-expected start of “Space Jam 2” pushed last weekend’s champion, Disney and Marvel’s “Black Widow” to second place on the box office chart. The superhero adventure starring Scarlett Johansson brought in $26.3 million in revenue in the second weekend, a 67% drop. So far, “Black Widow” has earned 131 million U.S. dollars in North America and 264 million U.S. dollars globally.

Despite concerns about the Delta variant and its mixed distribution on HBO Max, “Space Traffic Jam: New Legacy” became the biggest home movie premiere during the COVID-19 period. In the early days of the pandemic, films aimed at younger audiences—such as “Crazy Primitives: New Era” and “Tom and Jerry”—have been the biggest moneymakers. However, summer products such as “Boss Baby: Family Business”, “Peter Rabbit 2: Escape”, and “Mentally Rebellious” are all overwhelmed by family audiences. “Space Jam 2” was released 26 years later than the original, and it was the first movie in a while to bring moviegoers with children back to the theater. Men accounted for 53% of sales, and 52% of ticket buyers were under 25.

“This weekend is a positive sign that family audiences are still alive, and, based on the enthusiastic audience ratings of “Slam Dunk 2″, they are still excited about the big screen,” said David A., who runs film consulting company Franchise Entertainment. Gross said research.

Sony (NYSE:)’s “Escape Room: Championship Championship” ranked third with $8.4 million from 2,815 locations. Although in line with industry expectations, its three-day premiere marked a sharp decline in its predecessor, “Escape Room” in 2019, which premiered to US$18 million and ended the box office with US$57 million. The production cost of the sequel is US$15 million, which is higher than the US$9 million for the first film.

Ranked 4th is Universal Pictures’ “Fast and Furious” sequel “F9” in its fourth weekend of revenue of 7.6 million U.S. dollars, bringing its total domestic box office to 154 million U.S. dollars. Another universal game “Boss Baby: Family Business” ranked among the top five, generating $4.7 million in revenue over the weekend. In total, the animated sequel to “Boss Baby” in 2017 earned $44 million when it was released in theaters, and it was also broadcast on the emerging streaming service Peacock.