The numbers are still coming in, but Dan Trachtenberg’s “Predator: Badlands” is continuing to beat expectations and is now headed for a $40 million domestic opening weekend.
That’s a record domestic debut for the 20th Century Studios’ “Predator” franchise. The new estimate is enough to push it over the line of the $38.2 million debut of “Alien vs. Predator”.
The film saw a drop of just 10% of business between the $15.6 million opening day + previews, followed by a $14 million Saturday.
That’s something not really seen at the box office for a tentpole since “The Conjuring: Last Rites” and “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle” both back in September.
Part of it is the under-17 crowd, which was tiny on Friday, that essentially doubled on Saturday as word of mouth spread. Overseas, the film has pulled in an additional $40 million for a global kick-off of $80 million – the biggest worldwide opening for a “Predator” film to date.
The results come as producer Fred Rosenblatt revealed late last week that original “Predator” star Arnold Schwarzenegger has already met multiple times with director Dan Trachtenberg, telling Deadline: “Arnold and Dan have met a couple of times now. He’s a real fan of what we’ve done so far, from what I understand.”
