'Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé' smashed the box office on its first weekend with a whopping $21 million debut in North America, as per AMC Theatres. The concert film, which is written, produced and directed by Beyoncé is based on her tour for her Grammy-winning album 'Renaissance.'
"On behalf of AMC Theatres Distribution and the entire theatrical industry, we thank Beyoncé for bringing this incredible film directly to her fans,” said Elizabeth Frank, AMC Theatres executive vice-president of worldwide programming, according a report by Variety. “To see it resonate with fans and with film critics on a weekend that many in the industry typically neglect is a testament to her immense talent, not just as a performer, but as a producer and director.”
The post-Thanksgiving weekend box office is extremely slow and takes time to get back to normal, but 'Renaissance' broke barriers. In fact, it is the first film to earn over $20 million on this weekend in almost 20 years, the last one being 'The Last Samurai.' Even though it is not even close to the $92.8 million opening of 'Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour' in October, it still ranks among the best concert film debuts of all time.
The Renaissance World Tour, which covered 56 shows in North America and Europe, made over $500 million and attracted more than 2.7 million fans. The tour broke ticket sales records, becoming the eighth highest-grossing concert tour in history and the second highest-grossing tour ever by a female artist. The film is considered to have had a significant impact and has been called a cultural phenomenon by many critics.
'The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes' came down to second place with $14.5 million while 'Godzilla Minus One,' a Japanese blockbuster debuted in third place with about $9.8 million.
