Bye, Nun. Hello, Predator.
The 20th Century Fox action film is now at the top of the food chain in its first weekend in theaters. The Shane Black-helmed installment in the 30-year-old franchise earned $24 million from more than 4,000 North American theaters.
Not astounding for the franchise, but enough to become box office king.
According to comScore, domestic audiences were largely male (62 percent) and white (45 percent), and underwhelmed, giving the movie a C+ CinemaScore that echoed the tepid critical response. This does not bode well for following weekends.
Starring Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown and Boyd Holbrook, “The Predator” made headlines just weeks before opening when the studio cut a scene that featured an actor who was a registered sex offender. It did not appear to have affected the film’s box office performance.
“Any conversation raises awareness,” said comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “If people are talking about it then they’re aware of the movie.”
Second place went to the Conjuring spinoff The Nun, which added $18.2 million in its second weekend. The horror pic has now grossed over $85 million.
Also of note, Mission Impossible: Fallout is now the highest grossing film in the franchise, topping John Woo’s Mission Impossible Two. The film should finish its domestic run with approximately a $225m haul.
comScore’s Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian commented, “Fox’s The Predator devoured a chart topping $54.7 million in 73 global territories including North America where it led the box office with a $24 million debut while Warner Bros.’ The Nun in the second spot has rung up nearly $229 million worldwide to date.
The top 12 domestic weekend box office estimates are below:
Predator, The – 20th Century Fox – $24.0M
Nun, The – Warner Bros. – $18.2M
Simple Favor, A – Lionsgate – $16.1M
White Boy Rick – Sony – $8.8M
Crazy Rich Asians – Warner Bros. – $8.7M
Peppermint – STX Entertainment – $6.1M
Meg, The – Warner Bros. – $3.8M
Searching – Sony – $3.2M
Unbroken: Path To Redemption – Pure Flix – $2.4M
Mission: Impossible – Fallout – Paramount – $2.3M
Disney’s Christopher Robin – Disney – $2.0M
BlacKkKlansman – Focus Features – $1.3M
Globally, Hong Kong action spy thriller L Storm took in an impressive $32.2 million in just three territories for a global total to date of $34.9 million.
The top 12 worldwide weekend box office estimates are below:
Predator, The – 20th Century Fox – $54.7M
Nun, The – Warner Bros. – $51.3M
L Storm – Multiple – $32.2M
Simple Favor, A – Lionsgate – $19.6M
Mission: Impossible – Fallout – Paramount Pictures – $18.2M
Crazy Rich Asians – Warner Bros. – $16.0M
Meg, The – Warner Bros. – $9.9M
Searching – Sony – $9.2M
White Boy Rick – Sony – $8.8M
Peppermint – STX Entertainment – $7.9M
Disney’s Christopher Robin – Disney – $7.0M
Alpha – Sony – $4.5M
Source: comScore
