Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! is out Friday and her loose rendering of The Bride of Frankenstein is drawing plenty of differing reactions. Jessie Buckley, who appears poised to win Best Actress next weekend for Hamnet, is in the title role with Christian Bale as The Monster. Costars include Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Penélope Cruz.
Reviews are mixed with 60% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 55 Metacritic. Whereas Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein landed five nominations at next Sunday’s 98th Academy Awards including Best Picture, The Bride!‘s chances are more limited.
It is entirely realistic that Gyllenhaal’s treatment of Mary Shelley’s 200-year-old plus novel will receive no awards attention. Production Design is a remote possibility with Makeup and Hairstyling (a race where Frankenstein is a near certainty to emerge victorious) is the strongest possibility. That’s a different story than the filmmaker’s debut feature The Lost Daughter which was up in Actress (Olivia Colman), Supporting Actor (Buckley’s first nom), and Adapted Screenplay. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…
Disney/Pixar looks to jump to the top of the box office charts with Hoppers while Warner Bros hopes moviegoers RSVP for The Bride!, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s take on The Bride of Frankenstein starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale. You can peruse my detailed prediction posts on the newcomers here:
Recent original Pixar titles (Elemental, Elio) have struggled out of the gate with openings below $30 million. With encouraging reviews, I suspect that won’t be the case with Hoppers and I’m going with a start in the mid 40s.
As for The Bride!, I am forecasting a subpar premiere barely topping $10 million. As I mentioned in my post, the second weekend of Scream 7 and especially similar subject matter being covered in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein on Netflix could hinder this.
Speaking of Scream 7, it had a terrific debut (more on that below) that easily set a franchise record. The horror genre usually sees substantial declines in their second frames and I envision a mid to high 60s plummet for the latest adventures of Ghostface. Goat and Wuthering Heights should round out the top five.
Here’s I how I envision it shaking out:
1. Hoppers
Predicted Gross: $43.6 million
2. Scream 7
Predicted Gross: $19.5 million
3. The Bride!
Predicted Gross: $10.3 million
4. Goat
Predicted Gross: $5.8 million
5. Wuthering Heights
Predicted Gross: $3.4 million
Box Office Results (February 27-March 1)
As mentioned, Scream 7 had no trouble making loud noises at multiplexes with a series best $63.6 million, trouncing the $44 million that 2023 predecessor Scream VI pulled in. It also eclipsed my meager $47.6 million prediction for the best start yet in 2026.
Goat dropped to second with $12 million, down only 29% for a three-week tally of $73 million. I went a little lower at $10.8 million.
Wuthering Heights was third with $6.7 million (I said $6.9 million) and its three-week total is $72 million. The Margot Robbie-Jacob Elordi romance should fall a bit short of nine digits.
I did not have the rest of the high five being populated with music docs, but that was the result. Twenty One Pilots: More Than We Ever Imagined was fourth with $3.7 million. The King was fifth as EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert made $3.5 million to bring its earnings to nearly $8 million. Crime 101 was sixth with $3.7 million. I didn’t do a prediction for it and it’s made $30 million after three weeks.
I Can Only Imagine 2 fell a sharp 59% after a disappointing debut to $3.1 million in seventh. I forecasted a bit more at $4 million. The faith-based sequel stands at $13 million after ten days.
Send Help was eighth with $2.8 million (I went with $2.6 million) for a five-week gross of $59 million.
Warner Bros is counting on moviegoers to walk down multiplex aisles when The Bride! opens March 6th. Maggie Gyllenhaal directs the gothic thriller based on The Bride of Frankenstein. Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale headline the odd romance. Costars include Peter Sarsgaard (Maggie’s husband), Annette Bening, Jake Gyllenhaal (Maggie’s brother), and Penélope Cruz.
With a reported $80 million budget, the studio is seeking lots of RSVPs. Buckley is likely on the precipice of an Oscar win for Hamnet with Bale as the monstrous “Frank”. I’m not convinced their star power equals an impressive gross. The Bride! faces challenges. Scream 7 will be in its sophomore weekend and still posting solid figures. I question the mainstream appeal of this based on trailers and TV spots. Most importantly, plenty of potential viewers might feel like they got their Frankenstein fix via Guillermo del Toro’s Best Picture nominated Netflix version just four months ago.
Familiarity with the source material could still propel this to a premiere in the low to mid teen. My gut says to take the under and that means a disappointing result just over $10 million.
The Bride! opening weekend prediction: $10.3 million
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