• by Wayne Friedman , September 18, 2022

Theatrical movie business perked up slightly from its August and early September weekend blues with Sony Pictures Entertainment's “The Woman King” earning higher-than-expected $19 million in North American box-office revenues, according to Comscore.

Sony was anticipating a top result of around $12 million, according to reports.

“Woman King'' -- about an all-female army in the West African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 18th and 19th centuries benefited from strong positive critical acclaim after the Toronto Film Festival, as well as a stellar 93 positive rating from Rotten Tomatoes.

“King” posted the best weekend results since Crunchyroll’s “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero” debut -- computer-animated martial arts fantasy and adventure film -- on August 19-21 weekend ($21.1 million).

Sony Pictures was efficient with its TV marketing dollars for “King”. Lifetime national TV spend for the movie was just $6.1 million (2,873 airings), according to iSpot.tv estimates -- well under the typical $15 million to $25 million national TV advertising mark big wide-screen releases typically receive.

“The Woman King” launched in 3,765 locations.

For the most recent two week period, iSpot.tv says total impressions amounted to 442 million impressions for the movie-- second place against Walt Disney-Searchlight's “See How They Run” (460.7 million).

NBC, CBS, and ABC placed the bulk of “Woman King” national TV advertising in terms of estimated impressions -- 71.4 million, 65.1 million, and 50.2 million, respectively, according to iSpot.tv.

Biggest programming buys for the movie during that period: NFL Football (50.6 million impressions); CBS’s “CBS Mornings” (38.4 million); CBS' “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (23.3 million), and the syndicated/after-market airings of “Friends” (20.8 million).

“Woman King” also bested two new wide release movies on the same weekend: A24 Film’s “Pearl” ($3.1 million in North American box office) in 2,935 locations ; and Walt Disney-Searchlight Pictures’ “See How They Run” (also $3.1 million) in 2,404 locations, according to Comscore.

"See How They Run” spent an estimated $3.6 million in national TV spend (1,371 airings) for its entire campaign so far; “Pearl” registered two national TV airings on the CW, according to iSpot.tv.