The latest test of Warner Bros.’ day-and-date theatrical and streaming strategy arrived this weekend with The Little Things, the Denzel Washington vehicle co-starring Rami Malek and Jared Leto. Debuting in 2,171 locations, the serial killer thriller finished in first place with an estimated $4.8 million in its opening frame, a solid result given the film’s simultaneous availability on the HBO Max streaming platform.

As noted by the studio, The Little Things is the biggest opening for an R-rated film since the beginning of the pandemic, with 62% of the opening weekend audience being over the age of 35 — not surprising given Washington’s appeal with older moviegoers. Top markets for the film were Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, Houston, Greater New York Metro Area and Chicago. Only about 44% of domestic theaters are currently open in North America.

The Little Things did reasonably well in exit polling, garnering an overall B- Cinemascore with audiences. Critics liked it considerably less, with the film currently sitting at 48% on Rotten Tomatoes. That may have dampened the enthusiasm of some potential moviegoers – at least in terms of shelling out money for a ticket to see the film in theaters.

Universal’s The Croods: A New Age held steady in second place with an estimated $1.84 million, up 2% from last weekend. The leggy Dreamworks Animation sequel now has $43.95 million through the end of its tenth weekend, with no signs yet of slowing down from its current pace.

Wonder Woman 1984 finished at No. 3 with an estimated $1.3 million in its sixth weekend, a drop of just 19% from last weekend’s tally. The Warner Bros. sequel has $39.2 million to date.

In fourth place, two-weekend champ The Marksman dropped 38% to an estimated $1.25 million in its third weekend of release, giving the Liam Neeson thriller a total of $7.83 million to date. The film is trailing slightly behind the gross of Neeson’s previous theatrical release, Honest Thief, which had $9.56 million through the same time frame on around 300 more screens. It’s worth noting that the latter film was released in the fall, when the pandemic was at a lower ebb.

Sony’s Monster Hunter came in at No. 5 with an estimated $740,000, putting the video game adaptation at $11.14 million through the end of its seventh weekend.

Universal’s News of the World finished at No. 6 in its sixth weekend, grossing an estimated $540,00 for a total of $10.36 million to date.

Bleecker Street opened the critically acclaimed Colin Firth-Stanley Tucci drama Supernova on 330 screens and brought in an estimated $98,670, good for a per-screen average of $299.

Gravitas Ventures expanded the Jason Segel-Casey Affleck dramedy Our Friend into 818 locations and grossed an estimated $135,000, a drop of 44% from its debut.

OVERSEAS

The Little Things grossed an estimated $2.8 million from 18 markets, most notably Russia, where it opened at No. 2 for the weekend. The next major market for the film is Australia, where it’s slated to open on Feb. 18.

The Croods: A New Age crossed $100 million internationally this weekend with an estimated $1.3 million, bringing its overseas total to $100.43 million and its global tally to $144.38 million.

Wonder Woman 1984 took in an estimated $1.1 million overseas, bringing its international cume to $112.8 million and its global total to $152 million.

Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates (Domestic)

FRI, JAN. 29 – SUN, JAN. 31