So in the span of 12 months, we've had four non-franchise films open to $40M or more.
A Southern Gothic, quasi-musical, quasi-gangster film in Sinners
A suburban supernatural mystery in Weapons
An animated family comedy in Hoppers
and now a $200M science-fiction adventure film in Project Hail Mary (and before every points it out, yes I know the book this is based on is popular but we've seen adaptations of books that've sold far more copies not open as big as this film so this can't just be simplified as it being a big book)
[You could include F1 here as well if you don't think it being tied to a brand is a disqualifier, since it is still an original story]
Typically the best case scenario nowadays has been for a film to open modestly/small but leg out like with Elemental, The Housemaid, Anyone but You, etc. But are we seeing studios finally figure out how to market films not based on big properties?
by dremolus