Ben Affleck’s new directorial outingAir—which tells the story of a Nike salesmanSonnyVaccaro(Matt Damon) as he tries to geta rookieMichael Jordanto sign on to create the now iconic Air Jordan shoe brand—is off to a great start at the box office. The new film has pulled in $14.4 million in its first 3-day weekend at the Domestic Box Office. Adding in the two extra days since the film’s premiere on Wednesday, April 5, the dramatic comedy has secured itself a healthy $20.2 million across 3,507 theaters in North America.
The 5-day earnings seeAiroutperforming original projections and are a fantastic start for a dramedy aimed at adults. Following astrong opening on Wednesday of $3.2 million, the film saw a slight dip of 26% on Thursday with $2.4 million. This would ramp back up on Friday with an increase of 106% percent, ending the first day of the 3-day weekend with $5 million. Saturday saw the daily gross be even higher than the day before, ending with $5.8 million, a 16% increase. At the time of writing, Sunday’s box office is at $3.5 million, a strong showing considering it is Easter Sunday.
The film’s 3-day weekend earning of $14.4 million places the film atfourth place at the Domestic Box Office. Leading the pack by a large margin is the newly releasedSuper Mario Brosmovie with a massive domestic pull of $146.36 million—the film has now taken the record for the largest global opening for an animated film of all time at a staggering $377.2 million. The rest of the field for the weekend is much closer together asAir’s $14.4 million comes in just behindDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieveswhich brought in $14.5 million, bringing its domestic total to $62.2 million in its second weekend, andJohn Wick: Chapter 4bringing in $14.6 million in its third weekend hitting a $147 million total domestically.
Image via Amazon Studios
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What Are People Saying AboutAir?
Along withAirtapping into the shoe and sports audiences, one of the major reasons for the film’s success is strong responses from both critics and audiences with its quality being spread by word of mouth. The film currently sits at a 92% Critic Score on Rotten Tomatoes with the Audience Score being even higher at a 98%. Collider’s ownRoss Bonaimegave the film a B+ in hisreview, praising Affleck as a director, saying, “Affleck makesAirlook easy, a director who knows exactly what he’s doing, and knows how to build anticipation, work our excitement, and tell a story about a shoe that is truly enthralling and gripping.”
Airis currently available exclusively in theaters. Check out the trailer and the synopsis for the new dramedy film down below.
From award-winning director Ben Affleck, AIR reveals the unbelievable game-changing partnership between a then rookie Michael Jordan and Nike’s fledgling basketball division which revolutionized the world of sports and contemporary culture with the Air Jordan brand. This moving story follows the career-defining gamble of an unconventional team with everything on the line, the uncompromising vision of a mother who knows the worth of her son’s immense talent, and the basketball phenom who would become the greatest of all time.
