“Napoleon,” a $200 million war epic starring Joaquin Phoenix as the infamous French ruler, opened in second place with a better-than-expected $21 million over the traditional weekend and $32.5 million in its first five days of release. Globally, “Napoleon” generated $78.8 million.
Although “Napoleon” barely eked out ahead of “Wish” on domestic box office charts, analysts haven’t been as harsh on the initial performance. That’s partially because “Napoleon” is a tougher ask of moviegoers. It’s an R-rated period piece (about a long-dead military leader) that’s aimed at adult audiences and is nearly two hours and 40 minutes in length. It does not exactly scream fun for the whole family.
To be sure, a traditional studio would not be thrilled with the economics of “Napoleon” (to say the least). The same goes for Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which also cost Apple $200 million and has grossed $151 million globally.
“While the box office start is good for the genre, the production cost is enormous for this type of film,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research.
But Apple, one of the deepest-pocketed companies in the world, isn’t overly concerned with the profits and losses of its movies (for now). It’s releasing these big-budget films in theaters (Sony Pictures is handling distribution of “Napoleon”) to generate buzz for their eventual launches on Apple TV+, the company’s challenger to Netflix and Disney+. This isn’t to say Apple, which is opening Matthew Vaughn’s “Argylle” on the big screen in 2024 via Universal Pictures, won’t eventually change its tune about box office dollars.