1. Predator: Badlands (review)- $40M
While there was little doubt Predator: Badlands would land at #1 against a crop of so-so new releases, it’s still good to see the franchise’s big screen return payoff with $40M domestic and $80 globally. The third Predator movie by director Dan Trachtenberg follows a runt member of the clan who teams up with a broken synth to hunt down and kill the deadliest prey in the galaxy. The debut is larger than the roughly $24M earned by Predators and The Predator, and is equilvalent to the opening week of Alien: Romulus just last year. As Trachtenberg brings those franchises closer together, this bodes well for what many fans hope will be another crossover movie. Trachtenberg scored a streaming hit with Prey in 2022, but tried something different with a PG-13 underdog story this time around. Fans seems to have dug it, as the film has an 85% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and 95% from audiences.
2. Regretting You– $7.1M/$38.5M
3. Black Phone 2– $5.3M/$70.1M
4. Sarah’s Oil– $4.4M
Amazon/MGM released true story Sarah’s Oil into 2,410 theaters for a $4.4M opening weekend. The film about Sarah Rector, a young Black girl in 1900s Oklahoma who found oil on her land, becoming the “richest colored girl in the world”, stars Naya Desir-Johnson, Zachary Levi, and Sonequa Martin-Green. It’s been beloved by audiences who’ve seen it, scoring a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes.
5. Nuremberg (review)- $4.1M
Oscar winners Russell Crowe and Rami Malek led the historical drama Nuremberg to $4.1M in 1800 theaters. The film about Nazi commander Hermann Göring’s trial at Nuremberg post-WWII received solid reviews from critics but not the kind that will lead to an Oscars push. This is one of those “movies for adults” that used to dependable box office back in the day, but now tend to get turned into streaming minseries.
6. Chainsaw Man: The Movie– $3.6M/$38M
7. Bugonia– $3.5M/#12.3M
8. Die My Love (review)- $2.8M
The starry duo of Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson weren’t enough to drive Lynne Ramsay’s psychological thriller Die My Love which opened to just $2.8M. While critic reviews were strong, audiences killed it with just 45% on Rotten Tomatoes which is pretty disastrous.
9. Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere– $2.2M/$20.3M
10. Tron: Ares- $1.8M/$71.2M
Also…Positive buzz surrounding Sydney Sweeney’s performance in boxing biopic Christy (review) doesn’t seem to have translated to ticket sales. Black Bear released the Christy Martin drama into 2,011 theaters for just $1.3M. Assuming a wider rollout to come, the film might have an uphill climb. Critics were so-so on it with just 67%, but audiences were very favorable with 99%.
And it was a very strong start for Neon who released Joachim Trier’s critically acclaimed Sentimental Value (review) into four theaters for $200K or $50K per site. That bodes extremely well for the film which is expected to be an Oscars Best Picture frontrunner, along with possible awards for stars Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgard.
