But this year the movie menu is pretty sparse. The North American box office has few new films this weekend that are likely to draw tons of moviegoers. “Strange World,” Disney’s new animated film about a family of explorers starring the voice work of Jake Gyllenhaal, is projected to bring in only about $30 million domestically over the five-day holiday weekend — a fine, albeit muted, opening.
“Wakanda Forever” is another notable exception, having notched a record $180 million earlier this month, but otherwise it’s been pretty quiet at the cineplex. A ‘prime time’ for the movie industry The dearth of big new releases helps explain why the domestic box office is down 32% so far this year compared to 2019 before the pandemic. The number of releases on 2,000 screens or more is down by 36%.