Metallica have to be breathing a sigh of relief. The movie that they've worked on non-stop for the better part of the last two years finally hit IMAX theaters this weekend. So how did it do in it's first week?
The long and short of it is the movie did okay. According to The Wrap, the movie opened with a $1.67 million box office, raking in $780,000 on the first day of release alone. Opening on just 308 3D IMAX screens, the movie pulled in an average of $5,482 per theater, which is a very solid number.
The opening was heralded as "the best opening for a concert film ever at IMAX theaters," although that's not exactly saying much. So it did better than a 3D Justin Bieber movie or a 3D Jonas Brothers movie.
The band still have a long way to go to recoup the $18 million dollars they spent on the movie, but they are far from over. This Friday, the movie gets a wider release in 650 additional (non-IMAX) theaters and there is no accounting for how well the movie did internationally.
It's safe to assume that Metallica will recoup the money they put into the film off box office receipts alone. If not, the band at least have a ton of new PR opportunities that sprung up from the movie. They've been on the Colbert Report, on major news stations around the country and the world and basically all over the place.
Did you go see the movie this weekend? What did you think? You can read my review of the film here.
