A quartet of newcomers step into the box office ring this weekend. Video game adaptation Street Fighter looks to lead the pack while survival tale Whalefall, acclaimed documentary You Can See Everything, and the latest adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility jockey for position in the top five. You can peruse my detailed prediction posts on them here:
Arriving 32 years after the Jean-Claude Van Damme version was a considerable bomb, Street Fighter should fare better with a decent if unspectacular high 20s start. That should easily give it a first place finish.
Whalefall features Resident Evil lead Austin Abrams stuck in the belly of a sperm whale and I have it logging a so-so second place start in the low double digits.
You Can See Everything is the major question mark. It made a splash at the Telluride Film Festival and the covering of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes before she entered prison should generate eyeballs. The challenge is that I’ve yet to see a screen count. My higher single digits estimate would put it in a potentially close battle for third with the second weekend of Other Mommy.
Jessica Chastain’s horror flick opened in line with expectations (more on that below) but poor reviews and a dreadful D+ Cinemascore grade could spell a mid to high 60s percentage decline in weekend #2.
Sense and Sensibility doesn’t seem to have significant buzz and my mid single digits take should have it rounding out the top five just ahead of Verity‘s third frame.
Here’s how I see it shaking out:
1. Street Fighter
Predicted Gross: $28.5 million
2. Whalefall
Predicted Gross: $12.4 million
3. Other Mommy
Predicted Gross: $9.4 million
4. You Can See Everything
Predicted Gross: $8.9 million
5. Sense and Sensibility
Predicted Gross: $6.1 million
6. Verity
Predicted Gross: $5.9 million
Box Office Results (October 9-11)
Audiences were hungry for horror despite a critical drubbing as Other Mommy brought in $27.8 million, on pace with my $27.2 million prediction. As mentioned, even with genre fans craving scares, this should fade quickly.
Verity dropped to second with $12 million, just under my $13.1 million call. The thriller with Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson eased 63% for a two-week total of $54 million.
Resident Evil was third in its fourth frame with $8.5 million compared to my $7.8 million projection. This video game adaptation grew to $138 million.
Heart of the Beast took fourth with $7.4 million (I said $6.6 million) as the Brad Pitt survival tale hit $50 million after three weeks.
Finally, Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning tanked in fifth with $5 million. Taking in just a quarter of what 2010 predecessor The Social Network achieved out of the gate, the tech drama couldn’t match my $7.4 million number.
And that does it for now, folks! Until next time…
