Creed III’ grosses over $100 million in global box office for opening weekend knockout
Well, create three delivering a knockout box office opener this past weekend, even without Sylvester Stallone, Yahoo Finances Alexandra Kanell joining us now with a breakdown of these impressive numbers and also turns out it's a huge win for Amazon too. Yeah, because if you remember back in May 2021, Amazon purchased MGM Studios for $8.5 billion. At the time, there was a lot of speculation about the strategy played there. Well, create three delivering a knockout box office opener this past weekend, even without Sylvester Stallone, Yahoo Finances Alexandra Kanell joining us now with a breakdown of these impressive numbers and also turns out it's a huge win for Amazon too. Yeah, because if you remember back in May 2021, Amazon purchased MGM Studios for $8.5 billion.
At the time, there was a lot of speculation about the strategy played there. A lot of industry watchers thinking, okay, Amazon is going to take those MGM Studio films, use that to help bolster subscribers, add more content to Amazon Prime Video. But we see them leaning into a much different strategy than some of their competitors like Netflix, which has held their films very close to the heart with all of those streaming exclusives. But for create three, it's clear that the payout here is well worth it. A lot of industry watchers thinking, okay, Amazon is going to take those MGM Studio films, use that to help bolster subscribers, add more content to Amazon Prime Video. But we see them leaning into a much different strategy than some of their competitors like Netflix, which has held their films very close to the heart with all of those streaming exclusives. But for create three, it's clear that the payout here is well worth it.
We're seeing that the domestic box office, 58.6 million, over 100 million worldwide, the best opening ever for Amazon, best opening ever for the Rocky franchise. Those numbers mean the film is well on its way to a sizable profit. And there were a few strategic moves like marketing to younger consumers, really harnessing the power of Amazon.com and the synergies within that ecosystem to make this film a success. We're seeing that the domestic box office, 58.6 million, over 100 million worldwide, the best opening ever for Amazon, best opening ever for the Rocky franchise.
Those numbers mean the film is well on its way to a sizable profit. And there were a few strategic moves like marketing to younger consumers, really harnessing the power of Amazon.com and the synergies within that ecosystem to make this film a success. Also the release date, this was supposed to originally debut around Thanksgiving, but that was changed due to the fact that Black Panther, Wakanda Forever, debuted recently around that time. So that was a smart move there. And really just the marketing, the raw, the trailers, everything just worked so well. And the lightning rod here, it all sort of goes back to Amazon and the sheer marketing power that it has within the tech world and really pop culture as a whole.
Yeah, this one looks really good. Also the release date, this was supposed to originally debut around Thanksgiving, but that was changed due to the fact that Black Panther, Wakanda Forever, debuted recently around that time. So that was a smart move there. And really just the marketing, the raw, the trailers, everything just worked so well. And the lightning rod here, it all sort of goes back to Amazon and the sheer marketing power that it has within the tech world and really pop culture as a whole. Yeah, this one looks really good. What a successful franchise.
Did not necessarily see this longevity coming. Was it in see this march boost in the box office? Will it continue though? You know what, it will. And we've seen this lull in the box office and that was one of the critiques heading into 2023, right? If the movies are there, people will come. If they're not, you're going to struggle to get those box office receipts, but we see a really strong slate in March. We have Screams 6, March 10th. I'm very excited about that. Shazam Fury of the Gods, this is a big one, What a successful franchise.
Did not necessarily see this longevity coming. Was it in see this march boost in the box office? Will it continue though? You know what, it will. And we've seen this lull in the box office and that was one of the critiques heading into 2023, right? If the movies are there, people will come. If they're not, you're going to struggle to get those box office receipts, but we see a really strong slate in March. We have Screams 6, March 10th. I'm very excited about that. Shazam Fury of the Gods, this is a big one, especially for Warner Brothers Discovery.
That's revamping the DC universe. John Wick, chapter four, Dungeons and Dragons. I mean, really all potential blockbusters here pretty much every weekend in March. And the key story is this is all franchise, right? These are all franchises that you're seeing in the box office. You're seeing that in streaming companies. Paramount CEO Bob Backish, Warner Brothers Discovery CEO David Zazoff. They've all preached this message of leaning in on franchises.
especially for Warner Brothers Discovery. That's revamping the DC universe. John Wick, chapter four, Dungeons and Dragons. I mean, really all potential blockbusters here pretty much every weekend in March. And the key story is this is all franchise, right? These are all franchises that you're seeing in the box office. You're seeing that in streaming companies. Paramount CEO Bob Backish, Warner Brothers Discovery CEO David Zazoff.
They've all preached this message of leaning in on franchises. And that's because we're in this risky macro environment. So because of that, less risk is the sequel. Or is it because there's no originality whatsoever in Hollywood? That's an issue. That's what I'm seeing on that screen. That's what sells, right? I mean, it's this less risky option. You have that built in audience.
You know, people are interested. I'm not disagreeing with you because I do think we need some fresher content. But I guess you could argue that that's being more experimented on the streaming side. And that's because we're in this risky macro environment. So because of that, less risk is the sequel. Or is it because there's no originality whatsoever in Hollywood? That's an issue. That's what I'm seeing on that screen.
That's what sells, right? I mean, it's this less risky option. You have that built in audience. You know, people are interested. I'm not disagreeing with you because I do think we need some fresher content. But I guess you could argue that that's being more experimented on the streaming side. But the box office, especially post-COVID, they want to rely on the big guys that are going to bring in a lot of money. The movie Air, based on the Nike Michael Jordan, that's original and that comes out next month.
Also an Amazon MGM play there, too. Arguably the biggest media story of the weekend was Chris Rock, live on Netflix over the weekend answering the slap from Will Smith. I don't know. I know we won't find out the numbers until tomorrow, but largely what were the headlines, Allie? I think everyone talked about this slap, But the box office, especially post-COVID, they want to rely on the big guys that are going to bring in a lot of money. The movie Air, based on the Nike Michael Jordan, that's original and that comes out next month. Also an Amazon MGM play there, too. Arguably the biggest media story of the weekend was Chris Rock, live on Netflix over the weekend answering the slap from Will Smith.
I don't know. I know we won't find out the numbers until tomorrow, but largely what were the headlines, Allie? I think everyone talked about this slap, especially on Twitter. People have been waiting for this. It was a year in the making. So that was what I saw trending on Twitter. You know, it was interesting. We talked to Michael Patra on the show on Friday, and he said ultimately this isn't going to move the needle for Netflix, but you get the publicity around it.
You get the press talking about it. You get people engaged on Twitter. It's just another option. And all these streaming giants, they're really looking at different ways of programming. So that's why you're seeing Amazon included, especially on Twitter. People have been waiting for this. It was a year in the making.
So that was what I saw trending on Twitter. You know, it was interesting. We talked to Michael Patra on the show on Friday, and he said ultimately this isn't going to move the needle for Netflix, but you get the publicity around it. You get the press talking about it. You get people engaged on Twitter. It's just another option. And all these streaming giants, they're really looking at different ways of programming.
So that's why you're seeing Amazon included, along with Google's YouTube, Lean In to Live Sports. We'll see if Netflix gets into that. There have been some cautious sentiment on the street that Netflix can't afford the sports rights due to how expensive that is right now. But you know, everything's on the table. There's a lot of competition. Profitability is number one. So you can't say that nothing will happen because everything is a possibility right now.
Yeah, their sports play has been really smart. Not paying billions of dollars for money-losers, along with Google's YouTube, Lean In to Live Sports. We'll see if Netflix gets into that. There have been some cautious sentiment on the street that Netflix can't afford the sports rights due to how expensive that is right now. But you know, everything's on the table. There's a lot of competition. Profitability is number one.
So you can't say that nothing will happen because everything is a possibility right now. Yeah, their sports play has been really smart. Not paying billions of dollars for money-losers, but targeted documentary-type series that have gotten a lot of buzz and done very well. Allie, thank you. And by the way, Chris Rock came out swinging. Oh yeah, he didn't hold back. But he came out swinging at Will Smith's marriage.
Check it out on Netflix. Allie, thank you. but targeted documentary-type series that have gotten a lot of buzz and done very well. Allie, thank you. And by the way, Chris Rock came out swinging. Oh yeah, he didn't hold back. But he came out swinging at Will Smith's marriage.
Check it out on Netflix. Allie, thank you.
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