Good Night, And Good Luck, the new play at the 1,545-seat Winter Garden Theatre co-written by and starring George Clooney in his Broadway debut, shattered the weekly box office record for a play last week by grossing $3,305,240 for just seven preview performances.
The new record – the largest weekly gross by a play in Broadway history – replaces the previous record of $2,824,493 (for eight performances) set earlier this month by Othello starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal. Othello, which opened to mixed reviews, is playing at the 1,043-seat Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
Both productions were among the top three earners on Broadway last week – the week ending March 23 – with Good Night taking the top spot, Wicked at #2 with $2,545,281 and Othello at #3 with $2,529,484.
Average ticket prices for those three shows was $303.15 for Othello, $302.07 for Good Night and $165.19 for Wicked. Othello had the top premium ticket price ($897), followed by Glengarry Glen Ross ($799) and Good Night, And Good Luck ($775).
Written by Clooney and Grant Heslov, Good Night, and Good Luck, which officially opens April 3, chronicles the golden age of broadcast journalism and Edward R. Murrow’s legendary, history-altering, on-air showdown with Senator Joseph McCarthy. Based on the 2929 Entertainment and Participant film of the same name distributed by Warner Bros. and written by the same authors, the production stars Clooney in his Broadway debut as Murrow.
The rush of spring shows continued last week – and will just get busier through April – with Purpose having its opening night last week. The well-reviewed Branden Jacobs-Jenkins play, directed by Phylicia Rashad, took in $330,958, filling 95% of seats at the Hayes.
Also opening was Buena Vista Social Club, another hit with critics and audiences: The musical at the Schoenfeld grossed $891,455, filling 99% of seats. Operation Mincemeat, yet another critical favorite, filled all seats during its opening week at the Golden, grossing $716,491 for three previews and five regular performances.
In previews was The Picture of Dorian Gray starring Sarah Snook, taking a big $1,143,310 for seven performances and filling all seats at the Music Box. Opening night is March 27.
Glengarry Glen Ross is going gangbusters at the Palace, grossing a whopping $2,148,289, with attendance at 101% of capacity. Average ticket price was $204.40. Opening night is March 31.
Boop! The Betty Boop Musical is in previews at the Broadhurst, last week taking $530,077 for seven performances, with 95% of seats filled. Average ticket price was a modest $70.18. Opening night is April 5.
The Last Five Years, the romance musical starring Adrienne Warren and Nick Jonas, scored $731,535 with just five preview performances, selling out the Hudson. Opening night is April 6, and the average ticket was $151.14.
Smash, the musical based on the cult TV show, filled 96% of seats at the Imperial, grossing $860,998 for seven previews, with average ticket at $91.15. Opening night is April 10.
Finally, John Proctor Is The Villain, starring Sadie Sink, began previews at the Booth last week, grossing $190,867 for three previews with attendance at 101% of capacity. The sold-out first week has prompted producers to extend the engagement by two weeks. The play, which officially opens April 14, will now run through Sunday, July 6.
In all, the 33 shows on Broadway grossed a total $41,206,933 for the week ending March 23, a jump of 10% over the previous week and 44% over this time last year. Attendance was at 299,121, an 8% increase over the previous week and 30% year over year. Average ticket price across all 33 shows was $137.76
Season to date, Broadway, in the 44th week of the 2024-25 season, has grossed $1,486,270,557, up about 19% over last year at this time, with total attendance of 11,646,604 up 17%.
All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For complete box office visit the League’s website.
Credit: Deadline.com