Box Office analytics firm EntTelligence calculated that 1.25M people have seen Ghostbusters: Afterlife since its Thursday preview, 25% of that audience watching the movie on its first night in theaters.

Furthermore, it’s a long movie at 2 hours and 18 minutes, which means less showtimes; not to mention it’s a lot to ask of an older audience that’s cautious about watching movies in theaters during the pandemic. Oh, yes, and the HBO day-and-date of it all. Still, with all these older-skewing awards-bait movies this year, their fate will not be written at the box office. EntTelligence reports that there were 3.5x  more programmed seats for Ghostbusters: Afterlife than King Richard. This can be attributed to more showtimes and larger auditoriums being given to the Jason Reitman movie..

Disney/Marvel’s Eternals holds bragging rights for a second place rank in its third weekend, earning $3.07M yesterday, on its way to an estimated $10.8M, -60% for a running total by the end of Sunday of $135.8M. Paramount’s second weekend of eOne’s Clifford the Big Red Dog is expected to be down 52% for $8M in third, and a $33.5M running total by the end of Sunday. The pic is also available in homes on Paramount+..

2.) Eternals (Dis) 4,055 theaters (-35), Fri $3.07M (-61%), 3-day $10.8M (-60%), Total $135.8M/Wk 3.

3.) Clifford the Big Red Dog (Par) 3,628 (-72) theaters, Fri $2M (-53%), 3-day $8M (52%), Total $33.5M/Wk 2.

5.) Dune (WB/Leg) 2,467 (-815) theaters, Fri $885K (-46%), 3-day $3M (-45%) Total $98.2M/Wk 5.

6.) Venom: Let There Be Carnage (Sony) 2,230 (-308) theaters, Fri $725K (-30%), 3-day $2.65M (-32%), Total $206.3M/Wk 8.

7.) No Time to Die (UAR) 2,407 (-460) theaters, Fri $791K (-43%), 3-day $2.6M (-42%), Total $154.6M/Wk 7.

8.) The French Dispatch (Sea) 805 (-420) theaters, Fri $294K (-46%), 3-day $992K (-44%), Total $13.3M/Wk 5.

10.) Belfast (Foc) 584 (+2) theaters, Fri $270K (-58%), 3-day $830K (-53%), Total $3.3M/Wk 2.

That audience score was down from the 1989 Ivan Reitman-directed sequel Ghostbusters 2 which had an A-. Ghostbusters: Afterlife will have all the Imax and PLF theaters this weekend at its service.

Disney’s Eternals ended its second week with an estimated $33.7M in first place in 4,090 theaters, after a $1.3M Thursday, -19% from Wednesday, putting the MCU title at $124.9M

Paramount’s theatrical release of Clifford the Big Red Dog, which is also available in homes on Paramount+, saw a $655K Thursday at 3,700 sites, -8% from Wednesday and a running total of $25.4M

Warner Bros./Legendary’s Dune, which is in its final weekend on HBO Max before it’s exclusive to exhibition in its second month, continues to hold, notching third place with an estimated $7.5M fourth week in 3,282 movie theaters, an estimated $450K Thursday, and a running total just over $95M

In fourth is UAR/MGM’s No Time to Die, which is also in homes on PVOD, which earned $385K yesterday at 2,867, -2%, for a $6.1M sixth week, and a running total in the U.S

Fifth place belongs to Sony’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage, booked at 2,538 with a Thursday estimated at $250K, off 7% from Wednesday, for a 7th week of $5M and running total of $203.7M