THE METRIX | ‘The Predator’ Opens No. 1, $24 Million, Below 2010’s ‘Predators’

Bryan Ray of @DRMovieNews

This has not been a good weekend for the revival of an iconic sci-fi creature. Budgeted at an absurd $88 million, The Predator opened under its mid-weekend pacing, delivering a mediocre $24 million opening. That debut is below the $24.7 million debut of 2010’s Predators ($29.7 million adjusted for ticket price inflation), which only had a $38 million budget, and the disappointing $36 million debut of last year’s Alien: Covenant.

The Shane Black-directed film made $10.45 million on Friday (including $2.5 million from Thursday Night) and $8.5 million on Saturday. From a distance, that may seem like a decrease, but, by removing Thursday’s gross, the film actually increased from Friday’s raw gross to Saturday by about 1.1%. On Sunday, The Predator is estimated to take in $5 million, plummeting 40.6% from Saturday.

Overseas, 20th Century Fox production reeled in an equally mediocre $30.7 million, resulting in a $54.7 million opening weekend gross.

The film had a lot playing against it, which is why it seems like only the committed fanbase is showing up to the multiplexes. Terrible reviews, C+ Cinemascore, mediocre word-of-mouth, the success of The Nun, the Olivia Munn controversy, and of course, Hurricane Florence were all factors keeping audiences from buying a ticket.

New Line’s Conjuring spin-off The Nun dropped to 2nd Place, plummeting a franchise record 66.2%, adding $18.2 million in its second weekend. While that may seem like a harsh drop, the horror film still had the second biggest “second weekend” of the series, just below the $22.2 million second weekend of 2013’s The Conjuring.

It is still pacing above every other Conjuring film: The Conjuring earned the closest 10-day total with $83.9 million and The Conjuring 2 in third place with a mere $71 million. The blockbuster horror film will be the third film in the franchise to surpass the $100 million mark next weekend.

Overseas, The Nun added another obscene $33.1 million, pushing its international total to $143.6 million. The $22 million budgeted film’s worldwide total is now at an insane $228.7 million, and it still has France, South Korea, Russia, Italy, and Japan to go. The film is set to scare up big numbers in those markets next weekend.

The well-reviewed Paul Feig film, A Simple Favor , performed most impressively among the new releases in 3rd place with a solid $16 million opening weekend. The movie cost $20 million to produce, so it could be difficult for the film to turn a profit. Lead actresses Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick have been expertly marketing the $20 million budgeted Paul Feig film to their fans through social media and talk show appearances.

Overseas, the film brought in $3.5 million from 28 Markets. The film opens in a couple major markets, including the UK and Russia, next weekend.

White Boy Rick debuted in 4th place with an estimated $8.8 million for the weekend, the norm for smaller McConaughey projects. The film has received very sub-par reviews from critics, as well as a sour response from audiences. Maybe it will find an audience over the course of its run.

Crazy Rich Asians spent yet another weekend in the the top 5, adding $8.7 million in its fifth weekend of release. The hit rom-com is barely shy of the $150 Million mark .

Overseas, the film added another $7.3 million for a new international total of $37 million, resulting in an awesome worldwide cume of $187 million.

In other box office news, Unbroken: Path to Redemption bombed with $2.5 million, The Meg added $3.8 million ($137 million US Total, $505 Worldwide), Mission: Impossible – Fallout became the highest grossing film of the franchise, domestically and worldwide, with a total of $216 million domestically and $760 million worldwide, and Hotel Transylvania 3 passed the “half-billion dollar” mark worldwide.

For more box office news, stay tuned to MoviesMatrix.