Editorial Director/Box Office Editor
The Viola Davis-produced and -starring warrior pic The Woman King is off to a solid start with $1.7M after showtimes that began at 3 p.m. Thursday at 3,271 venues. The $50M feature co-financed by TriStar and eOne is expected to make between $13M-$16M this weekend after a very warmly received premiere at TIFF last Friday, and Rotten Tomatoes critic reviews that had hovered at 100% now have now settled to a still-great 94%.
Sony was eyeing Harriet and Widows, the latter a Davis action crime movie, as comps, and already Woman King has beaten both those pics’ respective $600K Thursday previews by 183%. The Woman King expands to 3,675 theaters this weekend, and the hope is that those excellent reviews will pull in adults at a time when there’s not much on the marquee.
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A24 also has the Ti West horror installment Pearl going wide at 2,900 theaters. The movie starring and co-written by Mia Goth is expected to open in the neighborhood of its previous chapter, X, which was $4M.
Searchlight is going wide on the mystery comedy See How They Run starring Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan in 2,404 theaters. Searchlight is expecting to $1M-$3M. It’s at 72% on Rotten Tomatoes. While Searchlight had a lot at the festivals, i.e. The Menu and Chevalier at TIFF and The Banshees of Inisherin and Empire of Light at TIFF and Venice.
Among regular ranked titles on Thursday, Disney/20th Century Studios’ horror movie The Barbarian made $773K at 2,340 theaters, -18% from Wednesday, for a week’s take of $14.6M. Zach Cregger’s acclaimed movie is expected to bring in a second weekend around $4.5M.
Fathom’s faith-based Lifemark did $361K Thursday at 1,531 for a week’s take of $3.6M.
Lionsgate’s Clerks III made $275K, +62% from Wednesday for a week’s take since Tuesday of $1.5M at 1,089 locations. The Kevin Smith-directed sequel will continue to play throughout the weekend.
Bullet Train and Top Gun: Maverick were fourth and fifth on Thursday with $267K and $274K, respectively. Now at 3,056 theaters, Bullet Train‘s domestic total through six weeks stands at $93.9M, while Maverick counts $706.8M at the end of its 16th week.
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