What we’ve seen in the pandemic era as far as family films go is that they can have a remarkably long shelf life in theaters. “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” had one of the most impressive box office runs in recent memory after a relatively weak opening weekend at the end of 2022, ultimately making $481.7 million worldwide. Similarly, Illumination’s “Migration” did damn decent business pulling in $298.4 million globally after a very weak $12.4 million opening. It appears as though “IF” might just benefit from the same audience, assuming Paramount doesn’t panic and bring it to VOD in a hurry. Patience might be the key here, but if it continues to hold well in the coming weeks, this would be one heck of a turnaround. 

Working in the movie’s favor is an A CinemaScore, which has led to great word of mouth. While critics were a bit mixed on “IF,” with /Film’s Ethan Anderton calling it whimsical and messy, audiences seem to like it a lot, and that’s proving to be more valuable. It also has yet to open in several major territories, including China and Japan. If things go very well, this one could finish closer to $300 million than $200 million, which would be a really encouraging thing in an otherwise rough year for theaters.

Am I saying that “IF” is going to wind up making close to $500 million worldwide by the end of its run? No. But I am saying that the movie is retaining an audience even as competition enters the marketplace, and holding better than anyone might have thought. If Paramount can just exercise some real discipline here and hold back the VOD release for a bit, this could be another nice example of the opening weekend not telling the whole story.

“IF” is in theaters now.