Refresh for updates Antoine Fuqua’s western remake got a solid start in 3,096 theaters last night. The Sony/MGM/Village Roadshow/LStar Capital co-production is expected to top the box office this weekend with a take that’s between $30M-$35M.
As of this morning, the Denzel Washington-Chris Pratt-Ethan Hawke ensemble is No. 1 in advance ticket sales on Fandango, repping 40% of the weekend. Earlier this week the ticket agency noticed that Magnificent Seven was pacing ahead of Washington and Fuqua’s previous title together The Equalizer which was a career record debut for the director with $34.1M.
One comp tossed out this AM was to Maze Runner: Scorch Trials which did $1.6M on its Thursday and made $11M on Friday for a $30.32M FSS.
Magnificent Seven carries a Rotten Tomatoes grade of 63% which is so-so for an adult skewing feature, and if reviews were higher, we’d see an opening well north of $35M. When the film came on to tracking four weeks ago, some rivals had it at $50M, however, as it typical, tentpoles like this start out big on tracking and then simmer down.
Warner Bros.’ Sully yesterday took the No. 1 spot among all movies in play with $1.7M for a two week cume of $78.56M. The Clint Eastwood movie about U.S. Airways pilot Chesley Sullenberger is expected to take in between $10M-$11M. It is expected to be topped by another Warner Bros. frosh release, their animated pic Storks from directors Nicholas Stoller and Dougsweetland. That movie is projected to put up a gross between $28M-low $30Ms. In previous Septembers at this time, Sony has whetted family audience appetites for a big animated film, and last year they hit an opening record for the month with Hotel Transylvania 2 with $48.5M. This weekend, it’s Warner Bros. with the family title.
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