鈥淒ear Evan Hansen鈥� may have been a hit on Broadway, but the filmed adaptation of the Tony-winning show is off to a slow start at the box office in its first weekend in theaters. The Universal musical that鈥檚 playing exclusively in theaters grossed an estimated $7.5 million from 3,364 locations, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
First place again went to Disney and Marvel鈥檚 鈥淪hang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,鈥� which added $13.3 million in ticket sales in North America, bringing its domestic total to $196.5 million. The superhero pic has topped the charts for four consecutive weekends and this weekend surpassed 鈥淏lack Widow鈥� to become the highest domestic earner of the pandemic.
With little in the way of high-profile competition this weekend, 鈥淒ear Evan Hansen鈥檚鈥� $7.3 million was enough to land it in second place. While critics were less than impressed, audiences that did turn out this weekend were fans and gave it an A- CinemaScore. Women made up an estimated 62% of the audience according to exit polls. Directed by Stephen Chbosky and written by Steven Levenson, 鈥淒ear Evan Hansen鈥� is about a high school student with social anxiety disorder.
鈥淲e are tremendously proud of 鈥楧ear Evan Hansen鈥� and everything about it,鈥� said Universal鈥檚 head of distribution Jim Orr. 鈥淲ith an exceptional film and great audience scores, we think that鈥檒l lead to a better than normal run at the domestic box office.鈥�
Despite its prestigious pedigree and star-studded cast including Julianne Moore and Amy Adams, 鈥淒ear Evan Hansen鈥� has become somewhat of a punching bag on social media since its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month. At the heart of the jokes is the fact that the film has a 27-year-old Ben Platt, who originated the role, playing a teenager.
The single-digit opening weekend of 鈥淐ats鈥� which opened to $6.6 million in December 2019. But 鈥淒ear Evan Hansen鈥� cost significantly less 鈥� $28 million vs. $95 million 鈥� in addition to the fact that 鈥淐ats鈥� launched to worse reviews in a pre-pandemic environment. There is also 鈥淭he Greatest Showman鈥� exception. The Hugh Jackman musical defied all box office logic in 2017 and 2018 when it opened to a deathly $8.8 million but went on to gross over $434.9 million globally. Justin Paul and Benj Pasek were the songwriting duo behind both 鈥淭he Greatest Showman鈥� and 鈥淒ear Evan Hansen.鈥�
Bigger blockbusters are coming to North American theaters starting in October, with the 鈥淰enom鈥� sequel out this upcoming Friday, the James Bond film 鈥淣o Time to Die鈥� following on Oct. 8 and 鈥淒une鈥� on Oct. 22.
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
