Tom & Jerry draws US$13.7m in best debut this year

Los Angeles

TOM & JERRY led North America's box office last weekend with US$13.7 million in opening sales, the largest debut in North America this year and the second-best since the pandemic began.

The Warner Bros remake of the classic cartoon caper took in US$33.1 million globally over the weekend, according to industry researcher Comscore, with China being its second-largest market.

Kid-friendly movies have performed well during the pandemic as families favor lighter fare. Wonder Women 1984, also by Warner Bros and geared toward a young audience, had the best weekend opening during the pandemic with US$16.7 million. Universal's The Croods: A New Age, which came out around Thanksgiving Day, is now in third spot.

"This is certainly an over-performance by pandemic standards," said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice Pro.

Warner Bros' result this weekend would also be encouraging for Walt Disney Co which is set to release Raya and the Last Dragon on March 5, he said.

Tom & Jerry was released simultaneously on HBO Max in the US for a month. It follows AT&T's Warner Bros' plan to put all of its 2021 movies online the same day they open in cinemas, a strategy that drew the ire of theatre chains already starved of new titles and strained by Covid-related capacity restrictions.

Prior to the pandemic, theatres usually had as long as three months of exclusive rights to new movies.

About 42 per cent of theatres in North America have reopened, according to Comscore. New York City, a major film market, is set to reopen movie theaters at 25 per cent capacity this Friday.

Warner Bros said it saw "an enormous boost" for Tom & Jerry from private theater rental bookings, a new offering by cinemas to attract audiences to return in their own private bubbles.

AMC Entertainment and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema have both introduced private screenings during the pandemic. BLOOMBERG