Clint Eastwood’s Latest Film Smashes Box Office: How Did It Start?

First Day Box Office in France – October 30, 2024

1 – Flow, the Cat Who Was No Longer Afraid of Water: 57,091 entries (40,813 in previews)

2 – Juror #2: 51,565 entries (no previews)

3 – Anora: 31,838 entries (1,711 in previews)

4 – On a Wire: 12,724 entries (8,629 in previews)

5 – The Art of Being Happy: 3,356 entries (1,570 in previews)

6 – The Retreat: 1,847 entries (1,750 in previews)

7 – River: 762 entries (703 in previews)

8 – Totem: 600 entries

9 – Shaun of the Dead (re-release): 179 entries

10 – When We Were Kings (re-release): 2 entries

NC – Venom The Last Dance: DATA NOT DISCLOSED

Key Takeaways

Note: The major release this Wednesday was Venom The Last Dance, but at the time of writing, the distributor Sony Pictures has not released its figures. Therefore, the picture is incomplete.

On this last release Wednesday of October, with the upcoming holiday this Friday, November 1st, and during school holidays, there are many new films and strong competition, promising a diverse range of movies.

The competition is mainly between the new Clint Eastwood movie and a feline animated film at the top of the rankings. Excluding preview figures, Juror #2 by Clint Eastwood is the clear winner. This marks the significant return of the 94-year-old filmmaker. “Richard Jewell’s Case (2020) and Cry Macho (2021), the last two feature films by Clint Eastwood, had initially sold 18,300 and 57,250 tickets, ending their runs with 795,400 and 198,140 entries respectively“, our colleagues at Boxoffice Pro remind us.

This new film, released rather quietly with little promotion, follows the story of Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult), a young father selected as a juror in the trial of a man accused of killing his partner beside the road on a rainy evening. However, the hero does not sleep peacefully. A few weeks earlier, on the same road, on the same evening, he had hit something with his vehicle. What if Justin was responsible for the murder?

With this gripping narrative, Clint Eastwood captures the attention of the audience. He offers a disturbing chamber drama that challenges the public on what to believe or not.

The French-Latvian animated film Flow also performs very well thanks to a solid number of previews.

In third place, all eyes are on Anora, the 2024 Palme d’Or winner. Is this a good start for a Palme d’Or-winning film? The answer is yes! “Without Filter, another Palme d’Or winner, had started with 20,150 entries (36,550 with previews). (…) Sean Baker achieves the biggest debut of his career, surpassing The Florida Project, which had gathered 5,300 spectators on its release in 2017“, reports Boxoffice Pro.

The story focuses on Anora, a young stripper from Brooklyn, who transforms into a modern-day Cinderella when she meets the son of a Russian oligarch. Without hesitation, she marries her prince charming; but when the news reaches Russia, the fairy tale is quickly threatened: the young man’s parents head to New York with the firm intention of having the marriage annulled…

Figures: CBO Box-office