WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for 80 For Brady's ending!The sports comedy Avatar: The Way of Water after its 7-week domination. Against a $28 million budget, 80 for Brady earned over $12.5 million in its opening weekend, which exceeds its initial box office projections of approximately $10 million.
Starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno, Sally Field, and titular quarterback Tom Brady, 80 for Brady’s talented cast has defied box office standards and exceeded expectations. In fact, Deadline reported that 80 for Brady sold over 1.3 million tickets in its opening weekend, while Knock at the Cabin counted about 1.1 million seats. 80 for Brady’s experimental ticket design of exclusively selling matinee prices kept the film from beating Shyamalan’s thriller, but its performance at the box office is impressive. While 80 for Brady holds a mediocre 63% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences have given it a 90% rating, indicating there are far more factors than a quality narrative contributing to its success.
80 For Brady’s Marketing Appealed To Multiple Audiences
Part of 80 for Brady’s impressive February box office performance can be explained by its varied marketing to demographics that haven’t been showing up to theaters throughout the pandemic. According to Deadline, over 47% of 80 for Brady’s audience was in the 55+ age group, with 69% of the opening weekend’s audience being women. Throughout the pandemic, the 55+ age demographic has been the slowest to return to theaters, yet this group had a shockingly high turnout for 80 for Brady.
Considering the four main cast are Hollywood legends between the ages of 76 and 91 (Field and Moreno remark in the film that they are not 80, despite the title and real-life football club name), their decades-old stardom, chemistry, and jokes about aging were undoubtedly appealing to the 55+ demographic. In fact, the press tour ahead of 80 for Brady's February 2023 release was primarily focused on the achievements of the four stars, consisting of Oscar winners, Emmy winners, Tony winners, and one EGOT winner. The film’s marketing was geared toward the appeal of seeing four of the most talented actresses in Hollywood history having an absurd blast on-screen, which 80 for Brady’s box office performance proves succeeded.
Although 80 for Brady was centered on the four ladies attending the 2017 Super Bowl, the comedy’s marketing also draws fans of the NFL, seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, and the New England Patriots. Considering 80 for Brady’s cameos include numerous NFL players like Rob Gronkowski and Marshawn Lynch, the film is marketed to fans of the players seeing them in an outlandish take on the movie’s true story. Additionally, 80 for Brady includes real up-close footage and highlights of the 2017 Super Bowl, so football fans in a primarily male demographic can see these iconic moments on the big screen.
80 For Brady’s Discount Tickets Helped Bring In More Viewers
Paramount Pictures opted for an unconventional release strategy for 80 for Brady by giving all tickets matinee pricing at AMC, Regal, Cinemark, and some midrange theater chains. Since most theaters give their senior discount pricing to patrons ages 60 and above, the matinee pricing allowed the 55+ demographic to attend at a similarly cheaper price. For younger audience who may have been hesitant to see the film for an expensive price, the discounts helped sell more seats in theaters for this demographic, who ed for the majority of Knock at the Cabin’s opening weekend attendance.
While 80 for Brady is estimated to have sold 200,000 more tickets than Knock at the Cabin in its opening weekend, the former film emerged with a smaller box office haul due to its discount pricing. Despite coming in second place at the box office, 80 for Brady’s experimental ticket pricing was a success, as the movie still ended up exceeding its $10 million projections. Paramount’s 2023 sports comedy movie will continue to offer this pricing at AMC throughout its entire run, which may entice even more moviegoers in older demographics to return to the cinema ahead of the Super Bowl on February 12.
80 For Brady Is A Lighthearted Comedy That’s Rare For Theaters Today
As a non-franchise, primarily CGI-less lighthearted comedy, 80 for Brady isn’t the type of film that is given a big release in theaters today. Post-pandemic, the movies that have truly succeeded at the box office are major action movies like Top Gun: Maverick, family-friendly franchise films like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, MCU superhero movies like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and visually striking sci-fi films like Avatar: The Way of Water. 80 for Brady doesn’t fit this mold but succeeds by being a rare member of its genre given a big theatrical release, with heavy star power and a story surrounding a shocking Super Bowl game combining to give it unusual box office appeal.
80 for Brady also has a PG-13 rating, which gives its comedy more of an edge as octogenarians fawn over quarterback Tom Brady. Its rating thus makes it more appealing to older moviegoers familiar with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin’s comedic style while also being available to younger audiences who want to see Tom Brady and the New England Patriots succeed on-screen. 80 for Brady would have done fine as a streaming-only release, but it turns out to be far more enjoyable in a crowded theater with an eclectic mix of audience laughing at the same jokes.
Did Tom Brady’s Retirement Announcement Help 80 For Brady’s Success?
While 80 for Brady’s end-credits scene jokes about Tom Brady’s decision to reverse his retirement in 2022, the quarterback announced on February 1 that he is officially retiring from the NFL. Considering this big news arrived only two days before 80 for Brady’s theatrical release date, Tom Brady’s retirement doubtlessly influenced more of his fans to see the movie dedicated to one of the most important games in his career. Since he’s retiring, 80 for Brady may be one of the last times that the quarterback’s highlights are presented on the big screen, which is apt to be a huge draw for football fans.
80 For Brady Deserves Its Box Office Success
While its obsessions with Tom Brady seem to give it a niche premise, 80 for Brady's true story makes for a greatly entertaining film because of the on-screen prowess and chemistry of its stars. It’s a brilliant comedy that has an incredible heart with the stories of its four main characters, themes of comebacks and defying expectations for age, and embraces its outlandish premise. As previously mentioned, 80 for Brady isn’t the type of movie that gets a theatrical release today, but its success proves that there is a market for fun comedies when they’re promoted well and given all-star casts.
Not only is 80 for Brady bringing the 55+ age group back to the movie theaters amid the bizarre 2023 box office landscape, but it also skews toward women, which is a refreshing change for the industry considering major comedy movies typically favor male audiences. Women over the age of 55 are a neglected audience in the industry, yet 80 for Brady found the perfect formula to pack them in theaters. 80 for Brady’s biggest success isn’t the depiction of Tom Brady’s Super Bowl win, but rather how the comedy is changing the perception about which films warrant theatrical releases today.
