Breaking the 3-Year Box Office Curse: The Equalizer 3 Stuns with an Unprecedented $40M+ Opening

Summary

The Equalizer 3 has had a massive opening, surpassing box office expectations and becoming the second-highest Labor Day weekend opening of all time.

The 2023 summer box office has achieved a significant milestone, surpassing the $4 billion mark and surpassing the previous summer box office total by 19%, thanks to the success of the film. The recovery of the movie theater industry in a post-pandemic landscape heavily relies on the summer box office success of films such as The Equalizer 3 and Barbie.

The impressive debut of The Equalizer 3 in 2023 breaks a significant box office jinx, allowing the movie to surpass expectations. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the film brings back Denzel Washington as Robert McCall, who finds himself battling the Southern Italian mafia once again. In terms of the Labor Day weekend opening, The Equalizer 3 ranks second only to Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Equalizer 3 contributes to a major achievement in the 2023 box office. Its strong start propels the domestic box office for the summer of 2023 past the $4 billion mark. With the holiday weekend concluding, the total earnings for the summer box office could reach $4.1 billion. Notably, this figure is 19% higher than the previous summer, marking the first time since the end of the pandemic that the summer box office has exceeded $4 billion.

Why the 2023 Summer Box Office is So Vital for Hollywood

Since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of theaters in March 2020, the film industry has faced challenges in attracting audiences. Despite a few successful exceptions like the highly anticipated sequel Avatar: The Way of Water in 2022, theaters have struggled to reach the same level of success as before the pandemic. As the 2023 summer box office trails behind 2019's domestic revenue by 5.7%, theaters still have a long way to go.

However, The Equalizer 3 has played a significant role in narrowing this gap. The total box office earnings of over $4 billion alone do not fully capture the impact of the 2023 summer box office on Hollywood. This summer saw the release of Barbenheimer, which simultaneously took over IMAX theaters and mainstream cinemas with the movies Barbie and Oppenheimer, dominating the summer box office for several weeks. Notably, Barbie succeeded in bringing back audiences who hadn't visited theaters in years, indicating a promising recovery for movie theaters in the post-pandemic era.

The openings of both The Equalizer 3 and Barbie exceeded expectations, as industry experts were pleasantly surprised by the strong box office performance of both films.