Key Takeaways
- The Running Man is a Stephen King adaptation that has underperformed at the box office.
- Now You See Me, Now You Don’t is expected to take the top spot with a $21–24 million opening.
- Predator: Badlands is experiencing a significant decline in its box office performance.
- Wicked: For Good is anticipated to boost the box office next weekend.
Earlier this year, everyone just kind of assumed that The Running Man was bound to be one of the year’s biggest success stories. After all, it’s a Stephen King adaptation, and the horror maestro’s adaptations have been strong at the box office lately. It’s also a remake of a beloved but not unassailable classic, stars one of the most promising new leading men, Glen Powell, and is directed by the great Edgar Wright. Yet, the word of mouth on the film has been poor (our review was very mixed as well), and in our predictions we guessed it wouldn’t make more than $20 million.
We turned out to be right, with Deadline predicting the movie will only make $18 million this weekend — with some even predicting it won’t cross $16 million. Instead, first place will easily go to Lionsgate’s Now You See Me, Now You Don’t, which is the third film in their magic-heist franchise (the first in nine years), and is giving them a much-needed win at the box office. While the $21–24 million start isn’t blockbuster numbers, the modest budget and the fact that these movies always do better business overseas suggest this might make the studio some decent coin.
Sadly, last weekend’s box office champ, Predator: Badlands, seems like it was very front-loaded, with it looking at a 66% decline and a $13 million weekend. While the film should still clear about $90 million domestically by the end of its run, its legs haven’t been as good as expected. Notably, all three of the movies topping the box office have earned B+ CinemaScore ratings, suggesting people like but don’t love any of the films playing. That leaves the box office wide open for next weekend’s Wicked: For Good, which will finally give the box office the boost it badly needs.
What are you seeing this weekend? Let us know in the talkbacks.
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter
