Rian Johnson’s highly anticipated whodunnit sequel ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’ has been ticking all the right boxes so far. For instance, ‘Knives Out 2’ has so far secured an impressive critics’ score of 93% and is ‘Certified Fresh’ on reviews aggregation portal Rotten Tomatoes.
After grabbing many eyeballs at the Toronto Film Festival and before its Netflix premiere, ‘Glass Onion’ recently had a limited theatrical release in less than 700 theatres in the US. Although the official figures are not known, the estimated box office earnings for the film were somewhere around $13 million during its five-day theatrical run. The figure is impressive despite its limited theatrical release.
The first ‘Knives Out’ movie, which was released in around 3500 theatres in 2019, had opened to around $41 million and eventually grossed over $312 million globally.
Considering these box office figures and as per industry estimate, ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’ had serious potential to deliver a $40 million to $50 million opening, had Netflix opted for a full-fledged theatrical release like its predecessor. So, on a widespread theatrical release, ‘Glass Onion’ could have earned a box-office gross to the tune of $350 million to $400 million internationally.
Now, we all know that OTT giant Netflix had shelled out a whopping amount of $469 million for the two ‘Knives Out’ sequels including ‘Glass Onion’. And with the ‘Glass Onion’ potential box-office figures compensating for most of this acquisition cost by Netflix, did Netflix make the wrong decision by going for a limited theatrical release before its streaming premiere?
One school of thought might opine that the substantial forgone box-office revenues for ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’ is a wrong decision and a missed chance for Netflix. But keeping in mind the earlier subscriber losses for the streaming service and the cutthroat competition in the OTT world globally, Netflix had probably taken this calculated risk keeping a longer term and the future in mind.
Netflix would want ‘Glass Onion’ to help retain and increase its subscriber base worldwide in order to stay at the top of the game in the coming years. So, going for a limited theatrical release followed by widespread OTT release seems to be a smart business decision taken by Netflix.
In ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’, ex-James Bond actor Daniel Craig reprises his role as the astute Detective Benoit Blanc. The story follows a tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton), who invites his friends to his private Greek island. But the goings-on take a drastic turn when someone is killed, and Benoit Blanc is tasked to investigate the mysterious case. The film also features Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Jessica Henwick, Ethan Hawke, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, amongst others. The sequel will drop on Netflix on 23rd December.