Bomb Report
Title: Bill & Ted Face the Music
Directed By: Dean Parisot
Written By: Chris Matheson, Ed Solomon
Release Date: August 28, 2020
Domestic Distributor: Orion Pictures
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, Kristen Schaal, Samara Weaving, Brigette Lundy-Paine
Rated: PG-13
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Music
Box Office Information
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Budget: $25 Million
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Financed by: Hammerstone Studios
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Domestic Box Office Gross: $3,439,660
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Overseas Box Office Gross: $2,826,949
Synopsis
In Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020), the would-be rocker heroes from San Dimas, California, are back.
Finding themselves as middle-aged dads still trying to crank out a hit song and fulfill their life’s destiny. With their marriages collapsing and careers on the brink, time and space begin to collapse.
With the stakes higher than ever, Bill & Ted Face the Music, follows the latest adventures of the time-traveling exploits of William “Bill” S. Preston Esq. and Theodore “Ted” Logan.
Official Trailer
Breakdown
Background
The third film in the franchise created by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon. Following on from the success of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989), and Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991) – with the former being something of a teen cult classic.
The franchise also contains a number of spin-offs, including an animated TV series, video games, and comic books.
Bill & Ted Face the Music was released simultaneously in theatres and through premium VOD in the United States on August 28, 2020 – by United Artists Releasing.
Bill & Ted Face the Music Box Office Numbers
With a production budget of some $25 million and a domestic box office 0.3 times the production budget, Bill & Ted Face the Music took $3,439,660 domestically and grossed $2,826,949 overseas at the box office.
Bill & Ted Face the Music played to 1,007 theatres and took $1,125,007 (32.7% of total gross) in its opening weekend.
The film played to a total of 1,007 theatres domestically and took a domestic share of some 54.9%.
Having ranked fourth in its opening weekend, Bill & Ted Face the Music dropped to fifth in its fourth weekend – running for a total of 10 weeks, with an average weekend domestic gross of $343,966 based on an 4.1 weeks average run per theatre.
Bill & Ted Face the Music was released to a total of 9 countries internationally, with the main markets being the United Kingdom, with a lifetime gross of $1,594,664, Australia (with the largest opening of $60,572) with a lifetime gross of $882,349, and New Zealand $112,805.
It’s a Wrap
With its production budget of some $25 million, the movie would need to have recouped at least $50 million from theatre receipts to even start thinking about breaking even.
So clearly a flop in the traditional theatrical sense.
But we’re talking 2020 pandemic shuttered-theatres again. And with Bill & Ted Face the Music being the latest film to follow a trend of early on-demand release – News Of The World (2020) – the true picture is a little brighter.
On opening weekend, the San Dimas rockers- rocked to the top rented movie on a host of streamers, including, FandangoNow, Apple TV, the iTunes Store, and Google Play.
We, the public, rarely gain insight into the murky world of VOD (or its premium sibling – PVOD) – as studios don’t normally release figures. But, as divulged by Deadline at the time, Parisots’ movie reportedly scored $32 million on PVOD – we’re talking $19.99 rental.
Combined with the theatre receipts at a little over $6 million, the movie is fast approaching the $40 million mark.
With its strong franchise support and future profits from television output deals – the industry is not seeing Bill & Ted Face the Music as a massive flop. It is certainly not the major success it could have been had it had a traditional theatrical run – but the film performed well in otherwise difficult circumstances.
It remains to be seen if the trend for early VOD continues post-pandemic – but this seems unlikely particularly in the case of hotly-anticipated blockbuster releases.
