Why Does Hollywood Care About Box Office Opening Weekends?

variety.com:

Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter “IF” isn’t exactly a box office bright spot. But Paramount’s kid-friendly fantasy about imaginary friends has ambled along in the time since its soft $33 million debut.

Its current tally — $93 million domestically and $160 million worldwide — is decent for an original live-action PG film. Actor Patrick Schwarzenegger (who has no discernible connection to the film) prophesied this staying power when “IF” fell short of initial projections. “Give it a few weeks,” he wrote on X.

Shortly after, as Universal’s “The Fall Guy” suffered a similar fate, he shared, “I know I’m a broken record … but … ‘Fall Guy’ continues to have crazy legs,” while conceding that the “budget was still too high.” Especially in this dismal summer season, some box office watchers have questioned the need to pay attention to opening weekends at all.

A recent Vulture article opined that obsessing about them helps “propagate the idea that opening weekends is all that matters.” Is it fair to fast and furiously brand a movie?