The U.S. box office for Memorial Day weekend is estimated to reach just $128.3 million, the lowest sales since $117.1 million in 1995. Last year’s Memorial Day box office hit just under $205 million, while the 2013 record, driven by “Fast & Furious 6,” reached $314.3 million.
“There’s no way to sugarcoat it, the numbers that are coming out this weekend are nothing to write home about,” Paul Degarabedian, senior media analyst with Comscore, said in a CNN interview. The top movie, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” is expected to bring in $32 million in sales.
Memorial Day typically heralds in a busy summer movie season, but this year’s sales are being affected by production delays due to the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023—and the dismal revenue for the holiday weekend could hurt overall box office totals for 2024.
“Barring some major overperformances, this summer looks like it’ll be down 20% to 25% in box office grosses between May and August from last year,” said analyst Shawn Robbins, founder and owner of Box Office Theory.
