While the Labor Day weekend is traditionally seen as a dumping ground for studios to put out pictures they have little confidence in, there’s a reason Focus Features is releasing Closed Circuit over this holiday frame.
Two years ago, over the same weekend, the studio had a better than expected opening for The Debt, a British thriller starring Helen Mirren and Sam Worthington. That film opened to a robust $12.8 million over the 2011 Labor Day weekend, which unexpectedly put it at #2 behind The Help.
Focus is certainly hoping lightning will strike twice with another British thriller. This one stars Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall. That being said, the marketing for Closed Circuit has been way under the radar. Could it open with the same numbers as The Debt? It’s certainly possible, but I can also see it totally bombing on the same level that Paranoia did just a week ago with an awful $3.5 million debut.
Closed Circuit opens on Wednesday, unlike the weekend’s other debuts One Direction: This Is Us and Getaway. I just don’t buy that it’ll be a surprise mid-size hit like The Debt, but I don’t quite see it failing on Paranoia‘s level. So we’ll go somewhere in the middle.
Closed Circuit opening weekend prediction: $5.3 million (over the Friday-Monday Labor Day weekend), $7.2 million (over the Wednesday-Monday opening)
For my prediction on One Direction: This Is Us, click here:
https://toddmthatcher.wordpress.com/2013/08/25/one-direction-this-is-us-box-office-prediction/
For my prediction on Getaway with Ethan Hawke and Selena Gomez, click here:
https://toddmthatcher.wordpress.com/2013/08/25/getaway-box-office-prediction/
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