Sony’s only real hope is that audiences might show more interest as the Academy Awards approach. Though there isn’t a lot of hope of that happening, as adult-skewing dramas have suffered ever since the pandemic began. To that end, Jesse Eisenberg’s directorial effort “When You Finish Saving the World” also arrived in 403 theaters over the weekend and, similarly, did pretty bad business for A24, making just $140,969. That made for an even worse $349 per-screen average.
A slightly more encouraging item on this list is “Alice, Darling,” which hails from Lionsgate and stars Anna Kendrick. In 65 theaters, director Mary Nighy’s drama took in $101,000, which is a better (though not great) figure. That film at least has a fighting chance as it expands in the coming weeks. But circling back to “The Son,” there is some hope on the horizon for the film, depending on how things shake out when we look at the bigger picture.
Florian Zeller’s “The Father” made just $2.1 million in total during its domestic theatrical run in 2021. However, it pulled in $22.3 million internationally, bringing its total to a much healthier $24.49 million, all against a $6 million budget. Now, if Jackman’s good name and some Oscar buzz can travel well, “The Son” could (and we stress could) be similarly bailed out by international moviegoers. But, for now at least, it looks like this might be a big whiff for Sony.