In a rather disappointing turn of events, Universal’sThe Fall Guyis poised to deliver the weakest opening for a movie designed to kick-start the Hollywood summer in about two decades, minus the pandemic years. Despite weeks of anticipation, positive early reviews, and an expansive marketing campaign featuring recently Oscar-nominated stars,The Fall Guyislooking at an opening weekend haul of less than $30 million. This is an unexpectedly soft figure for a summer tent-pole, and around a fourth of the $118 million thatGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3opened to same time last year.
StarringRyan GoslingandEmily Blunt, and directed byDavid Leitch,The Fall Guygenerated $10 million on Friday, which includes the $3.1 million that it made from Thursday previews. The film’s Friday gross is marginally lower than the $12 million that Leitch’sBullet Traingenerated on opening day, and the $11.5 million thatThe Lost City— starringSandra BullockandChanning Tatum— opened to in 2022. Also a date night action comedy featuring beloved movie stars,The Lost Citywent on to gross $30 million in its first weekend, and legged it past the $100 million mark domestically, as didBullet Train. All this withmarginally less enthusiastic reviews, less flashy marketing campaigns, and smaller budgets.
Produced on a reported budget between $130 million and $150 million,The Fall Guysits at a “fresh” 83% score on the aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes.In her review, Collider’sPerri Nemiroffcalled it a movie lover’s “dream come true,” and highlighted the film’s action set pieces, the stunt choreography, the cinematography, and the editing.The Fall Guyalso earned an A- CinemaScore from opening day audiences, which suggests that those who watched it, dug it. This might give the movie the legs that it so desperately needs to last the coming weeks.The Fall Guyentered the domestic market with a little over$8 million already in the bankfrom a handful of overseas territories; it expanded into 40 new markets this week.
The 2024 Summer Is Off to a Slow Start
Last week’s top seed, the romantic thrillerChallengers,held exceptionally well on its second Friday, generating another $2.5 million. This takes the film’s running domestic total to $24 million. Directed byLuca Guadagninoand starringZendaya,Mike FaistandJosh O’Connor,Challengerstopped the box office in its first weekend, and has already becomeGuadagnino’s top-grossing film of all time domestically. This weekend, it is expected to generate around $8.7 million, which should take its running total to $30 million,marking a soft 42% decline from weekend one.
Sony’sTarotis poised to be thelatest in a string of horror under-performers this year, followingThe First OmenandAbigail. The movie generated around $2.5 million on Friday, but will likely gross only around $6 million in its first weekend. Debuting in fourth place is the latest in a string of re-releases, and it’s a big one. AfterThe Mummy,Alien,Shrek 2, and theongoing Spider-Man re-issues, 20th Century Studios launchedStar Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menacein 2,700 nationwide locations on its 25th anniversary, and earned $2.4 million on Friday. This representsthe third-biggest re-release opening of the decade, behind twoJames Cameronblockbusters —Avatar($3.4 million in 2022) andTitanic($2.7 million in 2023). Despiteits divisive legacy,The Phantom Menaceis looking at around $8 million this weekend, which is impressive for a rerelease. For instance, Universal’sMonkey Mandebuted to $10 million just a few weeks ago.
Meanwhile, holdover hitGodzilla x Kong: The New Empirewill continue itsmarch towards the $200 million milestone domestically, after generating $1 million on its sixth Friday. The film is eying just under $4 million this weekend, which should take its running domestic gross to around $190 million. In all likelihood, it’s going to pass the 2014Godzilla’s lifetime haul to becomethe MonsterVerse franchise’s biggest domestic hit. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
The Fall Guy
Colt Seavers is a stuntman who left the business a year earlier to focus on both his physical and mental health. He’s drafted back into service when the star of a mega-budget studio movie, which is being directed by his ex, goes missing.
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