Over the last 18 months, Hollywood has dealt with the closure of movie theaters and a stagnant box office that made people worried about the rise of streamers. We saw places like Warner Bros. opt to release things day and date, allowing their streamer to cut the theaters off at the knees. It was an abysmal year for cinema. 

But things are looking up for the rest of 2021. 

Over Memorial Day weekend, we sawA Quiet Place II hit an estimated $57 million in 3,726 theaters. This is the widest opening and biggest new release since the start of the COVID-19 era. 

Even better? That was around the projection for the movie in a world where COVID didn't exist. 

We are seeing theaters across the United States operate at capacity. Along with this title, Disney's Cruella took in $26.5 million at the box office, and so far the Saw franchise spinoff, Spiral,has taken in $27.5 million in May. 

This is all great news for studios and theaters. The last year put immense pressure on Hollywood. This summer has to prove a bounceback is possible. We are already seeing the world theatrical market pick back up, with F9 dominating in Asian countries, including China. It's set to come to the United States at the end of June, right in time for things to be back to "normal."

The big worry has been how much ground streaming took in this battle. We saw several theatrical chains go under, and a lot more take on debt to survive. While we can't predict things will come back perfectly, these numbers show that the box office is still king when releasing a movie. 

Did you hit the theaters this weekend? What did you see? 

Let us know in the comments.

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Movies & TV