How ‘A Man Called Otto’ Beat the Box Office Odds
Who says adults aren’t going to the movies?
Well, the numbers don’t exactly lie: Movies aimed at older audiences have majorly struggled at the box office in COVID times. They are generally successful. aren’t Going to the movies. But Sony’s “A Man Called Otto,” a heartfelt drama starring Tom Hanks The $12.6 million premiere from 3,802 North American theatres was the result of a cranky widower. It’s expected to reach $15 million through the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday frame, bringing its domestic tally to $21.2 million after playing in limited release for two weeks. That’s a better-than-expected result, at least in the pandemic era.
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Will the $50 million-budgeted “Otto” remain a theatrical draw throughout the rest of winter? That’s far from a forgone conclusion. Box office watchers already feel optimistic about Hanks’ latest big-screen adventure.
David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, categorized the opening weekend as “above average” for the genre. “This is a very good opening for a character-driven comedy drama, with an excellent turnout by older moviegoers,” he says. “When these kinds of movies connect, they can go on a run — and that’s starting to happen.”
Only a handful of adult-driven films, such as “Where the Crawdads Sing” ($17 million), “Elvis” ($31 million), “The Woman King” ($19 million) and “Don’t Worry Darling” ($19.3 million), have connected at the box office since March 2020.
The reality is that Hanks has a lower standard of success at the box-office than he used to. In another era, the actor’s name — in movies ranging from wars stories like “Saving Private Ryan” and “Bridge of Spies,” touching dramas like “Forrest Gump” and “Philadelphia,” romantic comedies including “Sleepless in Seattle” and “You’ve Got Mail,” the animated “Toy Story” franchise and dozens of other memorable films in between — meant hundreds of millions in global box office returns. Today, it’s hard to imagine a studio greenlighting a quirkier adventure like “Forrest Gump,” much less watching its ticket sales climb to $678 million globally. It’s true that times and tastes are changing dramatically.
So, given the constraints facing a movie like “Otto,” Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock believes it “won the adult-skewing lotto.”
“Looking back, Sony probably left money on the table. With ‘Babylon’ bombing, there was certainly room for an adult-skewing dramedy over the holiday frame,” says Bock, referring to Paramount’s big-budget Hollywood epic that flailed spectacularly at Christmastime, earning just $14 million to date. “That said, audiences will usually show up when a well received film — especially in a genre that has been overlooked for far too long — opens in a sluggish marketplace.”
Sony initially planned to release “A Man Called Otto” nationwide around Christmas, which is traditionally a prime slot for feel-good films. The studio made a few changes to its original plan, moving the debut date up to December 14 and then scrapping the nationwide release. Instead, “Otto” opened in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles on Dec. 30 before expanding its footprint across the country on Jan. 13.
With its platform release, “Otto” became one of the rare pandemic-era films aimed at adult audiences to effectively sustain momentum. Despite positive reviews and potential Oscar glory, Steven Spielberg’s coming-of-age story “The Fabelmans,” the Cate Blanchett-led “Tár” and Sarah Polley’s timely parable “Women Talking” — none of which grossed more than $15 million at the domestic box office — were some recent movies that failed to bring older audiences (or any at all) to theaters.
Sony took a non-traditional approach to the crowd-pleasing “Otto,” which is more mainstream and less of a prestige arthouse play compared to other dramas. The film was still shown at four New York City venues and Los Angeles as usual for platform releases. Sony was more focused on cinemas in central California for the second weekend. This was because it believed the story’s heartfelt message would be appreciated by audiences across the country. By that Sunday, “Otto” had earned $3.76 million and placed fourth on domestic box office charts despite playing in significantly fewer theaters than its competitors. The strongest ticket sales were in Dallas and Phoenix, Salt Like City (as well as Columbus, Minneapolis and Nashville), as well as Phoenix, Salt Like City, Salt Like City, Salt Like City, Salt Like City, Salt Like City, Salt Like City, and Milwaukee.
“It played throughout the country, a reflection of how universally appealing Tom Hanks is as a star,” says Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “And the tone of the movie has great appeal for audiences across the board.”
Audiences were fonder of the movie compared to reviewers, resulting in an “A” CinemaScore from ticket buyers and a so-so 68% average from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
Marc Forster directed “A Man Called Otto,” the second adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s 2012 novel “A Man Called Ove” following the 2015 Swedish film of the same name. Hanks portrays Otto Anderson, a grumpy husband and father who succumbs to depression after the death of his wife. His attitude changes after he makes an unlikely friendship that will change his life. He also meets a young family who moves in next to him. TSG and SF Studios co-financed the film.
Variety’s chief film critic Owen Gleiberman wasn’t sold on the film, though he praised the casting of Hanks. “We’ve seen this sort of get-off-my-lawn curmudgeon many times before,” he wrote. “But with the right actor and the right script, it’s a formula […] that audiences never get tired of — and Hanks, make no mistake, is the right actor for this role.”
Now, cinema owners hope he’s still the right actor to fill seats.
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