Why The Lost City's Box Office Performance Is So Good
The new romantic comedy, The Lost City, has exceeded expectations with its box office performance during its opening weekend. Since premiering on March 25, The Lost City has earned $31 million in domestic theaters, dethroning The Batman from the number one position after three weekends in a row (via Variety). In addition, The Lost City earned $3.7 million in limited early international markets. This brought The Lost City’s opening weekend total box office earnings to $34.7 million.
Combining the romantic comedy genre with action-adventure, The Lost City follows Loretta Sage, an author of adventurous romance novels who has been experiencing writer’s block. This problem soon gets overshadowed though when Fairfax, an eccentric billionaire, abducts her. Thinking Loretta can guide him to the ancient city in her newest book, The Lost City of D, Fairfax takes her to South America. Once there, Alan Caprison, the model for Loretta’s book covers, decides to prove that he can be a hero by rescuing her.
With a budget of $68 million, The Lost City was expensive for a romantic comedy. This budget went toward not only paying the numerous popular actors in the movie, but filming on location in the Dominican Republic during a pandemic. The cost seems to have paid off though with The Lost City’s strong opening weekend. A major reason for the movie's success is the positive reception it has enjoyed among both audiences and reviewers. At the time of writing, The Lost City holds an enviable 75% on Rotten Tomatoes. Beyond this, however, multiple other factors have contributed to drawing in viewers, including The Lost City’s star-studded cast, appeal to a unique demographic, and easing COVID-19 restrictions.
A large portion of The Lost City’s budget must have gone toward casting several big-name actors. The movie stars the likes of Sandra Bullock (Loretta) and Channing Tatum (Alan), who has returned to acting after a 4-year break. Additionally, Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe played The Lost City’s villain, Fairfax. Brad Pitt also made a cameo appearance as a CIA agent trying to save Loretta after her kidnapping. Rather than make Pitt’s cameo a surprise, The Lost City made sure to include all four actors in its trailers, attracting more viewers.
The Lost City also owes much of its success to its ability to draw in a different demographic than most blockbuster movies. Superhero films, such as Spider-Man: No Way Home and The Batman, relied primarily upon sales to men under the age of 35. In contrast, The Lost City was an adventurous romantic comedy, reminiscent of the 1984 movie, Romancing the Stone. This appealed to women over the age of 35. On The Lost City’s opening night, 60% of ticket buyers were female while 47% were over 35 years old, meaning that The Lost City was able to draw in viewers from a less well-represented demographic.
In addition, easing COVID-19 restrictions may have helped boost The Lost City’s box office performance. Since the pandemic started, adults have been more hesitant to return to theaters. However, as pandemic restrictions have lifted, audiences have felt safer watching movies in theaters again, including the many adults who viewed The Lost City on its opening weekend. This greater feeling of safety, along with The Lost City’s distinct demographic appeal and notable cast, may help the romantic comedy to continue to perform well at the box office.