Box Office Report: ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ Scores Top Covid-Era Debut For Family Film

On Friday, Warner Bros.’s Space Jam: A New Legacy debuted in theaters and on HBO Max. It started well by Covid standards, not least considering rising anxiety caused by the spread of the Delta variant. Yet there’s more going on here than theatrical grosses: Warnermedia is hoping the film will draw new subscribers to HBO Max, where it is playing at no extra charge.

Here are the key numbers on A New Legacy and other animated films of the weekend:

• A New Legacy opened with $31.6 million (estimated) in North America, where it played in 3,965 cinemas. It topped the box office, pushing Marvel’s Black Widow into second place in its second weekend.
• This is the largest domestic debut for a family film in the pandemic, and the fourth-largest of any film (after Black Widow, F9, and A Quiet Place Part II).
• Internationally, A New Legacy took $23M, for a $54.6M global total. The film reportedly cost $150M.
• The original Space Jam debuted in 1996 with $28M, which equates to around $60M in today’s money.
• Like all Warner Bros. titles this year, it is also playing for a limited one-month window on HBO Max at no extra cost to subscribers. The streamer doesn’t release viewership data.
• While critics were unimpressed by the sequel, viewers were more positive: paying audiences have given it an A- Cinemascore grade.
• Universal’s The Boss Baby: Family Business came in fifth with $4.7M. It has grossed $44M domestically after three weekends, plus $3.7M overseas (where it has yet to open wide), against a budget of $82M.
• INTERNATIONAL: In Japan, the box office was topped by a high-profile new release: Toho’s Belle, directed by Mamoru Hosoda. The Cannes hit drew more than 600,000 admissions, grossing over 890M yen ($8.1M). GKIDS will release it in North American theaters this winter.