Despite stellar critical reviews, strong advance ticket sales and plenty of buzz, Denis Villeneuve’s “Blade Runner 2049” is set to open to just $31.5 million in North America this weekend.
That’s considerably down on the $45-50 million estimates the film was originally tracking for. It began Friday when the film’s opening day haul of $12.7 million disappointed. By Saturday it dropped a further 11% to $11.4 million, and Sunday’s projected total is just $7.4 million.
The long runtime limiting the number of showings each day, combined with far less attendance by younger moviegoers and women than anticipated has seen it fail to meet expectations by a considerable margin.
The film earned a further $50 million overseas where it also opened in most markets this past week. Costing $150 million to make, the film has to earn $400 million worldwide to make profit – that goal seems highly unlikely at this point.
This week’s other opener “The Mountain Between Us,” a survival drama with Idris Elba and Kate Winslet, also underwhelmed. Reviews were weak, and the film came in under estimates with $10.1 million.
Beating expectations though was “My Little Pony: The Movie” which managed a decent $8.8 million. In limited release, Sean Baker’s “The Florida Project” soared with a $38,336 screen average from four screens.
Source: THR
