Box Office: Pixar’s Onward Does Well In US But Stumbles Internationally Amid Coronavirus Concerns

The latest box office numbers are in, and Pixar’s Onward was unsurprisingly the biggest movie of the weekend in America. The film raked in $40.4 million in the US, which is a huge number, but it’s also well below the $50 million that estimates suggested.

The downturn in the US isn’t due to the coronavirus, Deadline reported. Instead, “it’s Onward itself here that isn’t working,” the site reported. The site points out a number of issues with the film and how it’s framed, but it’s too soon to say for sure why it’s come up short against expectations.

Internationally, it’s a different story. The impact of the coronavirus seems more readily visible. Onward made only $28 million from 47 international markets, which is well below the $40 million – $55 million range that was forecasted. In total, Onward has made $68 million after its first weekend, which is significantly below the $100 million forecast.

“There’s concern here that coronavirus fears have curbed business in SouthEast Asian territories (like Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand) in the wake of China and South Korea’s grappling with the current crisis, and of course what’s going on in Italy is causing greater alarm in Western Europe,” the site reported.

Go to Deadline to see a full rundown, recap, and analysis of the weekend’s box office performance, including concern about and the impact of the coronavirus.

Onward is Pixar’s 22nd movie, and the first since 2019’s Toy Story 4. It’s also the first Pixar movie to release following the company’s statement that it wants to move away from sequels and make more original films.

Onward is directed by Monsters University director Dan Scanlon, and features the voices of Chris Pratt and Tom Holland as elves who go on an adventure to find magic. Octavia Spencer and Julia Louis-Dreyfus also have major voice roles in the movie.

March 6-8 US Box Office

Via EW

1. Onward— $40 million
2. The Invisible Man —$15.5 million
3. The Way Back — $8.5 million
4. Sonic the Hedgehog — $8 million
5. The Call of the Wild —$7 million
6. Emma — $5 million
7. Bad Boy for Life — $3.1 million
8. Birds of Prey — $2.2 million
9. Impractical Joker: The Movie —$1.8 million
10. My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising — $1.5 million

Source: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/box-office-pixars-onward-does-well-in-us-but-stumb/1100-6474514/?ftag=CAD-01-10abi2f