2020's Box Office Recovery Is Riding On Audiences Loving Period Dramas

It's up to The King's Man, Wonder Woman 1984 and Death On The Nile to "save" theatres but only if audiences care about three, period-set blockbusters

Kenneth Branagh in 'Death On The Nile' (CREDIT: 20th Century Pictures)

                      by Jack Linsdell

2020 was meant to be a strong year for the global box office, but Coronavirus had other ideas. Instead, most of the intended slate has either been shifted to 2021 (No Time To Die, F9) or given a PVOD release (The High Note, Irresistible). But, after months of theatres being closed and no "new" theatrical releases, things are slowly starting to get back to some kind of normal, however skewed that may be. Russell Crowe's Unhinged and Gerard Butler's Greenland have been the movies to open up theatres across the world, gaining strong box office figures from Europe and Asia. Of course, America is still largely locked down still, but then they have Trump in charge, so...

Anyway, Christopher Nolan's time inversion thriller Tenet may be the "first" big movie out of the gate, but it's limited release in America, which coincides with Mulan's debut on Disney+, won't "save" theatres all on it's own. To help revive theatrical revenue and get the box office back on track, it'll be down to the three blockbusters opening there after. In September, Matthew Vaughn's WWI prequel The King's Man will arrive hoping audiences care more about the Kingsman brand rather than the core Eggsy/Harry relationship of the first two movies. In October, we have Patty Jenkins' 1980s-set superhero sequel Wonder Woman 1984 which sees the return of stars Gal Gadot and Chris Pine from the 2017 smash hit. Later that month, we'll see Kenneth Branagh's period murder mystery Death On The Nile arrive in theatres, based on the novel by Agatha Christie, seeing director/star Branagh return from 2017's Murder On The Orient Express as the infamous detective Poirot. 

The highly ironic and coincidental catch to all this is that The King's Man, Wonder Woman 1984 and Death On The Nile are all period-set blockbusters. Why is this significant? Well...it's either going to swing one of two ways. Firstly, being optimistic, a 2020 audience that's depressed with (and suffered from) a long lasting global pandemic will love these period-set blockbusters, if only because they transport them to a time when things were just as "bad". We're taking about the Victorian age, the First World War and the Cold War, all times when the world appeared like it was falling apart in front of everyone's eyes. However, period set films may also appear more escapist for a 2020 audience who are literally transported to another time that looks and sounds decades apart from today's world. That could be the biggest thing going for these three blockbusters, and let's hope so because the box office certainly needs "saving". 

Also, two of the three movies are follow ups to well-liked, very popular and smash hit flicks that were also period set. In 2017, both Wonder Woman ($821 million worldwide on a $150 million budget) set in WWI, and Murder On The Orient Express ($352 million on a $50 million budget) set in the Victorian age, both broke out bigger than expected. The Diana Prince/Wonder Woman origin story delivered grounded and gritty superhero action encased in a emotional, humourous and light format that clicked with adults and kids alike. The Hercule Poirot murder mystery gave adults a stylish whodunnit remake with a bunch of big "stars" and prestigious actors that clearly entertained. The King's Man is the only question mark here really, but both present day-set Taron Egerton/Colin Firth flicks clicked with audiences as R-rated action thrill rides. Kingsman: The Secret Service earned $414 million on a $90 million budget whilst Kingsman The Golden Circle still grossed $410 million on a $101 million budget, so it stands to reason that although a prequel with a new cast, The King's Man will still click with audiences by offering popular actors in a R-rated period thriller. 

Of course, it could be that some audiences could pass all together on a period setting, especially as the one-two-three punch of the three films could be "overload" on period blockbusters. Whilst there's no real evidence to show audiences prefer their blockbusters to be set in the modern day over other periods of history, the successes of Dunkirk ($526 million/$100 million budget) and Captain America The Winter Solider ($714 million/$170 million) over Pompeii ($117 million/$100 million) and The Three Musketeers ($132 million/$75 million) does suggest audiences prefer a period setting when it's in recent 20th century history. This could impact Death On The Nile the most as it's not set in the 1900s. However, considering they are all connected to popular and well-liked smash hits, and having had very few big "new" movies in theatres this year, it stands to reason that all three will be just fine. 

So, it really is up to a spy, a female superhero and a moustache-twitching detective to "save" the 2020 box office. But, it's really on audiences across the world to show up for three period set movies to make that happen.