Summary
- The Boys in the Boat surpasses expectations, grossing over $50 million at the box office.
- Despite initial doubts and mixed reviews from critics, the movie remains in the top 10 and continues to draw audiences.
- With an Audience score of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s clear that viewers have found George Clooney’s sports biopic to be an inspiring underdog tale.
The Boys in the Boat crosses a significant milestone at the box office, far exceeding initial expectations for its performance. The George Clooney-directed sports biopic is based off of the book of the same name by Daniel James Brown. It tells the inspiring true story of the University of Washington’s men’s rowing team, exploring the sacrifices and trials they experienced leading up to their representation of the United States at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Although the mid-budget movie wasn’t expected to be a major earner, it has proven quite a player at the box office.
As Collider reported, Clooney’s The Boys in the Boat just passed an impressive domestic box office milestone. The movie broke $50 million at the domestic box office against a budget of $40 million. It has also made an additional $2.5 million overseas. Despite initial low box office estimations, the movie has been sticking close to the top 10 at the box office, crossing $50 million on its 45th day in theaters.
How The Boys in the Boat Exceeded Expectations
Crossing $50 million was a big milestone for The Boys in the Boat, but it isn’t very surprising considering that, although it didn’t break even at the box office, it outperformed its initial projections. It was projected to earn $2-3 million on its opening day, but ended up grossing a whopping $5.7 million and finishing fourth at the box office. Meanwhile, it hasn’t shown many signs of slowing down, even though it has been available digitally on-demand for almost a month.
Although the movie exceeded expectations, it’s understandable why it had such low projections at the beginning. It was a small-budget movie released over the Christmas holiday, competing with such big blockbusters as Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Ferrari, and Wonka. On top of that, early reviews of The Boys in The Boat were very mixed, as critics gave the film a tepid 58% on Rotten Tomatoes. Clooney’s works also have a bit of a reputation for being dull, raising concern over a movie with a premise that could be summed up as “boys in a boat“.
However, The Boys in the Boat prevailed largely because of audiences. Movie-goers disputed critics’ take on the movie, giving the film a stellar audience score of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. While many acknowledged the movie was a bit slow, they described it as being a very inspiring biopic about a lesser-known underdog tale. These audience reviews will likely pique the interest of anyone looking for an enjoyable, feel-good movie at the theater.
Source: Collider
The Boys in the Boat
The Boys in the Boat is a 2023 sports drama by director George Clooney. The film centers on the 1930s University of Washington rowing team, who train feverishly to win the gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The Boys in the Boat is based on the book of the same name by Daniel James Brown.
- Release Date
- December 25, 2023
- Cast
- Joel Edgerton , Callum Turner , Peter Guinness , Sam Strike , Jack Mulhern
- Runtime
- 124 Minutes
- Writers
- Mark L. Smith
- Studio(s)
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , Spyglass Media Group
- Distributor(s)
- Amazon MGM Studios
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
