20th Century Fox is putting its faith in The Maze Runner, out Friday. The YA pic, based on a bestselling 2009 novel by James Dashner, is looking to appeal to the Hunger Games/Divergent crowd and the studio has already began pre-production on a sequel.
I’m not so sure the sci-fi flick will reach the numbers that Fox is hoping for. However, there is a significant bright side: the film only cost a reported $30 million to produce and it’ll certainly sail well past that in its domestic run alone. Some prognosticators have it grossing its budget in the first weekend, but I’m not willing to go that far. The book is well-known, though not to the level of Hunger Games or Divergent. The latter pic grossed a terrific $54 million earlier this year and that seems out of the question here.
The Maze Runner‘s trailers and TV spots might make it look like a poor man’s Hunger Games to those not familiar with the source material. Still, I’ll predict it debuts north of $25M for what should be a #1 opening, unless Liam Neeson’s A Walk Among the Tombstones eclipses it.
The Maze Runner opening weekend prediction: $26.1 million
For my prediction on A Walk Among the Tombstones, click here:
https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/09/14/a-walk-among-the-tombstones-box-office-prediction/
For my This Is Where I Leave You prediction, click here:
https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/09/14/this-is-where-i-leave-you-box-office-prediction/
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