Michael B Jordan’s directorial debut with Creed III makes sports movie history.
Amazon Studios had a record-breaking weekend with the wide theatrical release of MGM/UAR’s Creed III, which brought in $58.6 million in its first two days. The film opened to $22 million on Friday and $21.4 million on Saturday, making it the highest opening for any sports movie in motion picture history. This success marks Amazon’s block-busting theatrical release since their acquisition of MGM for $8.45 billion in May 2021.
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Previous Amazon theatrical releases have seen platform rollouts, but with the success of Creed III, Amazon is pivoting towards a truncated limited theatrical distribution plan for its titles. Amazon Studios Head Jen Salke said in an interview that the company will continue to make decisions about releases on a case-by-case basis, but she expects more theatrical releases in the future. The next release from Amazon is the Ben Affleck-directed, Viola Davis-starring “Air.” The movie tells about Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) and Nike’s pursuit of basketball rookie Michael Jordan. That partnership revolutionized the world of sports and contemporary culture. Air will hit theaters over the Easter weekend.
Creed III’s opening day alone is bigger than any previous box office weekend for an Amazon title. According to Comscore/Screen Engine, 74% of Creed III moviegoers bought their tickets either the day-of or the day before.
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The film’s opening weekend bested the three-day totals of both Creed ($29.6 million) and Creed II ($35.5 million), which both had five-day launches over their respective Thanksgiving weekend openings.
Audiences have responded well to Creed III, with the film currently holding a 96% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and receiving an A- CinemaScore. Audience exits on PostTrak were also strong, with 92% of viewers giving the film a positive rating and 80% recommending it. It also showed that 40% of moviegoers came for the cast as a whole, while 43% showed up as fans of the Rocky spinoff franchise. The film overperformed in the East and South regions and had a turnout of 65% under 35, similar to Creed II. The film’s demographic breakdown was 63% male, 55% between 18-34, and 29% between 35-54, with 65% of viewers under 35.