Why Ben Affleck’s ‘Air’ Will Be a Massive Success Despite A Likely Lackluster Box Office Run
Despite not recouping its costs, Ben Affleck’s Air is still being hailed as a huge success. The 2023 film, which was distributed by Amazon Studios, has established itself as yet another esteemed offering from the studio. The studio released the movie in theaters worldwide and heavily promoted it as Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s official on-screen reunion.
Because of this, the film enjoyed a notable run at the box office, despite facing fierce competition from the $1 billion-grossing The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Largely, as a result of the Netflix model, major studios have been making blockbuster movies that exclusively debut on their streaming services.
However, it has now started to change. For example, Ben Affleck’s Air will premiere on Prime Video on May 12. As the streaming release approaches, it’s time to evaluate the movie’s performance in theaters, its level of success, and what that likely means for the future.
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Ben Affleck’s Air Was Originally Planned For Amazon Release
Air will be available on Amazon Prime Video from May 12. This is not because of a deal the movie studio made with the streaming service, but rather because Amazon Studios distributed the movie.
Even though Air was given a theatrical run, that wasn’t the original plan. Instead, the film was supposed to be an Amazon Prime Video exclusive that was to become immediately available on the streaming service. However, following alleged overwhelmingly positive test screenings of Air, Amazon changed its plan.
The film went on to be a success, earning an ‘A’ CinemaScore and being hailed as Ben Affleck‘s return as a director. Since its release, Air had earned more than $85 million overall, with just over $50 million coming from domestic ticket sales.
Let’s address a topic that has been avoided up to this point: the movie has a $90 million budget. The price for Amazon to acquire the project or the marketing price is not included in that. Given those elements, the cost of this film makes it unlikely that it will make money during its theatrical run based solely on ticket sales.
But the good news is that there’s still a chance that Air could be a massive success.
Why Air Will Be a Huge Success Despite a Possibly Poor Box Office Run?
The only thing that Amazon really needs is for Air to make back the money they invested in marketing it.
This situation doesn’t quite fit into the standard Hollywood studio math that determines whether a film will be a hit or a bomb. If you’re Sony Pictures, for example, and you release a $90 million film, you’ll need a lot more money for it to make a profit. Since theaters typically keep about half of the revenue, a $90 million box office haul would only bring in about $45 million for the production company.
This is unfavorable math, for sure. Amazon, however, is all about Prime Video and growing its subscriber base in order to encourage customers to use their Prime membership to make purchases. Thus, traditional Hollywood math does not hold true in this case.
The idea is to use a theatrical release to raise a film’s profile and, as a result, increase its success when it debuts on the company’s streaming service. This way of thinking is being adopted in some capacity by about every current movie studio that also operates a streaming service.
Well, Air is currently playing in theaters and will be available on Amazon Prime from May 12. In that case, it will undoubtedly be considered a success if it becomes a massive hit on Prime Video.
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Source- Slash Film; Box Office Mozo
