NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Just when a party was poised to break out in movie theaters, the below-expectation debut of \u201cIn the Heights\u201d dampened Hollywood\u2019s \u2026<\/b>
\nNEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Just when a party was poised to break out in movie theaters, the below-expectation debut of \u201cIn the Heights\u201d dampened Hollywood\u2019s hopes of a swift or smooth recovery at the summer box office. Jon M. Chu\u2019s exuberant adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda\u2019s Broadway musical opened with a modest $11.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Forecasts had ranged from $15-$20 million. The release of \u201cIn the Heights\u201d \u2014 a lavish song-and-dance musical accompanied by glowing reviews from critics and considered a milestone movie for Latinos \u2014 was widely seen as a cultural event. On opening weekend, though, the Warner Bros. release narrowly missed the top spot. Instead, \u201cA Quiet Place Part II\u201d edged it with $11.7 million in its third weekend of release. (It\u2019s close enough that the order could flip when final figures are released Monday.) On Friday, John Krasinski\u2019s thriller \u2014 playing only in theaters \u2014 became the first film of the pandemic to reach $100 million domestically. Its cumulative total is $109 million. Sony\u2019s \u201cPeter Rabbit 2: The Runaway,\u201d a film originally planned to open around Easter 2020, also opened softly, debuting with an estimated $10.4 million. After a string of good box office weekends, the opening of \u201cIn the Heights\u201d was a reminder of the challenges of the marketplace. Most theaters are operating at reduced capacities to allow social distancing. Canada\u2019s theaters are largely closed. And getting crowds to come out for a movie that was simultaneously streaming on HBO Max, as \u201cIn the Heights\u201d was, adds another complication. Starring a mostly fresh-face cast including Anthony Ramos, Melissa Barrera, Corey Hawkins and Leslie Grace, \u201cIn the Heights\u201d didn\u2019t have the star power of musicals such as \u201cMamma Mia!\u201d to give it a boost. Miranda, who performed the lead on Broadway, ceded the part to Ramos. Miranda plays a minor role. Instead, the film will depend on strong word of mouth (it received an \u201cA\u201d CinemaScore from audiences) to propel a long run in theaters. Its hopeful comparison would be a movie like 2017\u2019s \u201cThe Greatest Showman,\u201d which opened to $18.8 million but held firmly for months, ultimately grossing $174.3 million in the U.S. and Canada. \u201cWe always thought that the movie has to do the heavy lifting,\u201d said Jeff Goldstein, distribution chief for Warner Bros. \u201cEven though it came in at a lighter level than we had expected, we\u2019re proud of the movie that\u2019s there and over time the hope is that we can get an audience to sample the movie and tell their friends to.\u201d Warner Bros., as is standard throughout the industry, didn\u2019t release viewing data for \u201cIn the Heights\u201d on HBO Max. The studio\u2019s day-and-date approach, planned to last through the end of the year, has been much-debated. But previous Warner releases \u2014 particularly \u201cGodzilla vs. Kong\u201d (which managed a $32.2 million three-day opening in early April) and last week\u2019s No.1 film, \u201cThe Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It\u201d ( a $24 million debut) \u2014 performed solidly while also being available in the home. The \u201cConjuring\u201d sequel added $10 million in its second weekend. HBO Max, Goldstein said, couldn\u2019t be blamed for any disappointing results for \u201cIn the Heights.\u201d \u201cOur experience, which is backed up on \u2018In the Heights,\u2019 is that if the movie hits a high level in theaters, it hits a high level on the service,\u201d said Goldstein. \u201cIf it hits a low level in theaters, it hits a low level on HBO Max. They\u2019re really very comparable.\u201d Last weekend, Disney\u2019s \u201cCruella\u201d may have also made a somewhat muted arrival in theaters because it opened at the same time on Disney+, for $30. In its second weekend, \u201cCruella\u201d earned $6.7 million, bringing its total to $56 million. \u201cIn the Heights\u201d had originally been set to open in June of last year. The studio and filmmakers, believing its impact would be felt most powerfully in theaters, opted to wait for cinemas to reopen. Ahead of release, Warner put its marketing weight behind the film. Oprah Winfrey hosted a virtual block party for the film. On Wednesday, the film opened the Tribeca Festival with a yellow carpet premiere and screenings scattered throughout New York. Regardless of box office, \u201cIn the Heights\u201d is the rare bigger-budget spectacle film to feature a predominantly Latino cast. Though Latinos make up one of the largest groups of regular moviegoers (accounting for as much as 29% of tickets sold) their representation in Hollywood is still a fraction of that. According to audience surveys, about 40% of the opening-weekend audience for \u201cIn the Heights\u201d was Hispanic. The director Chu has previously helmed a breakthrough release for Asian Americans in 2018\u2019s \u201cCrazy Rich Asians,\u201d which opened to $26.5 million over three days and then kept a multi-week lock on the box office. Recalling that \u2014 or perhaps sensing that \u201cIn the Heights\u201d wasn\u2019t going to debut like a blockbuster \u2014 Chu urged people to \u201cvote with their wallets\u201d by supporting the film. \u201cEven \u2018Crazy Rich Asians\u2019 you couldn\u2019t really tell. It was only the second weekend when people started coming back and the third weekend when people who didn\u2019t go to the movies started to come,\u201d said Chu a week ahead of release. \u201cBuying tickets to this thing \u2014 putting your money where your mouth is \u2014 was the democratic statement that no studio could make up.\u201d<\/p>\n