Last week saw the business of big screen narrative start to get impacted by the coronavirus outbreak with the news that the new James Bond film No Time To Die’s release had been delayed from April until November to avoid poor box office prospects in virus-ravaged Asian markets. There is also speculation about other upcoming blockbusters following suit. Some are even theorizing that concern about the outbreak are affecting the weekend box office returns already, but there's no conclusive evidence pointing to that. Yet.

Pixar, purveyors of some of the most beloved big screen narratives of the last two and a half decades, released their latest effort over the weekend, Onward. Many have celebrated the fact that it's an entirely new story, and not a prequel or a sequel, which Pixar often seems to prioritize these days.

The fantasy comedy takes place in a world much like our own, except that its entirely populated by magical creatures who've long since stopped using magic. It follows two elf brothers on a quest to bring back their long-dead father for one day. The narrative is notable in that it references and relies upon tropes surrounding the story-centric game Dungeons & Dragons, which has had an under-recognized influence on modern fantasy narrative.

Onward took in around $40 million in its first weekend in US theaters, an impressive number in most contexts, but something of a disappointment for a new Pixar film. Some are pointing to the film's ho-hum reviews as a reason, but anyone who's seen the film knows it's pretty awesome.

Others are speculating that audiences are staying away out of fear of contracting the coronavirus. There's no hard evidence supporting that claim, but it's a reminder that collective narratives aren't immune to outside factors.

Ben Affleck, an actor and Oscar®-winning screenwriter whose personal life has overshadowed much of his recent work, saw his latest film debut to underwhelming numbers as well over the weekend. The Way Back, in which Affleck plays an alcoholic seeking redemption by coaching a high school basketball team, took in $8.5 million to earn third place on the charts. The low result may suggest that narratives focusing on alcoholics are a bit of a bummer. Or that Affleck's real-life struggles with the disease perhaps made the story line a bit too close to home for audiences. Once again, it shows that fictional narratives can't escape the impact of real-life events.

In between the above two films in the number two position was last week's champ, The Invisible Man, which took in $15 million in its second weekend. The film's ongoing success, and the extremely positive discussion surrounding its inventive narrative, continue to have positive implications for original storytelling and speaks to a hunger for bold new approaches to the horror genre.

A couple of spots down the charts at number six is a new take on Jane Austen's beloved novel Emma, which has seen multiple adaptations over the years, including the 1996 version starring Gwyneth Paltrow. It also loosely inspired the 1995 high school comedy Clueless.

The new Emma opened two weeks ago in limited release, and added almost 1,500 theaters over the weekend which saw it take in a healthy (for a period piece) $5 million. There has been a lot of positive word-of-mouth surrounding the film, and it's relatively successful expansion speaks to how certain stories never lose their power, even two hundred years after they were first told.