The Purge Box Office Prediction

I would say that even a month ago, The Purge was really on no one’s radar screen when talking about potentially successful summer flicks. That has changed.

The Ethan Hawke thriller comes with a very cool concept. Set in 2022, The Purge refers to a 24-hour period that takes place every year in which all crime, including murder, is legal. Hawke is the head of a family who are terrorized by those looking to punch their free crime card. This pic seems to have gained momentum just in the last couple of weeks with frequent TV spots. I will admit – the trailers and ads for The Purge are pretty damn effective.

Five summers ago, a similar title The Strangers opened to a robust $21 million. I certainly believe The Purge could post similar grosses. Films like this tend to do more than what most prognosticators go with, so I’m tempted to predict on the high end of expectations. Mr. Hawke had a nice size hit just last fall with Sinister, which opened with a more than expected $18 million.

The sudden surge of Purge could mean a #1 opening this weekend. I believe it will be a close race between this and the Owen Wilson/Vince Vaughn comedy The Internship. My prediction for that film can be found here:

https://toddmthatcher.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/the-internship-box-office-prediction/

I’ve gone too low on too many similar titles and I won’t do it here. With that said:

The Purge opening weekend prediction: $24.9 million

I’ll have full predictions for this weekend’s top five later this week – stay tuned!