It would appear that not even the Coronavirus pandemic can put a dent in Denzel Washington‘s stellar track record as one of the most consistent and reliable box office draws in the business, after The Little Things topped the weekend’s domestic charts despite debuting simultaneously on the big screen and HBO Max.
John Lee Hancock’s psychological serial killer drama raked in $4.8 million over the last three days, which isn’t great under normal circumstances, but is an impressive feat in the current climate. Not only is it the highest-grossing chart topper in a month since Wonder Woman 1984 earned a second weekend haul of $5.5 million, but The Little Things scored the biggest opening for an R-rated title since the industry was first ravaged by COVID-19 almost a year ago.
That’s made all the more impressive by the fact that it would’ve been much cheaper and a whole lot easier for audiences to simply sign up for HBO Max to watch the film instead of braving the cinema during times of continued uncertainty. However, Denzel clearly still draws, even if the reviews for his latest venture into the crime thriller genre haven’t been particularly encouraging.
It’s a minor accolade, sure, but we’ll take any sort of positive news from theaters that we can get, especially when more and more titles continue to pack up and flee from the early months of the year. We’re still a long way away from any return to something approaching normality, but at least The Little Things has shown that a global health crisis we’ve been dealing with for almost a year can’t stop Denzel Washington from reinforcing his status as one of Hollywood’s last remaining stars that can open a movie based entirely on their name and nothing else.