Whereas September opened with a Warner Bros. movie clobbering records, October isn’t so lucky. Let’s run through this.
In first, Warner’s Blade Runner 2049 bombed with $32.75 million from 4,058 venues. While 2049 is less than $100k away from outgrossing its 1982 predecessor, the film’s $155m net production cost casts a dark shadow over its debut. The flick also opened below Ridley Scott’s last franchise installment, this May’s financial misfire Alien: Covenant ($36.16m).
What happened? Blade Runner 2049 positioned itself to compete with past October sci-fi fare such as Warner’s Gravity ($55.79m debut) and Fox’s The Martian ($54.31m debut), it had a talented cast (Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Jared Leto, Robin Wright among others) and a talented director in Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Sicario, Arrival). 2049’s box office is a stark contrast to its quality – the movie is excellent and has received much acclaim (88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes; 8.6/10 on IMDb), with many hailing it as one of the best sequels ever produced.
There will be many “what went wrong?” articles filing in over the next while, but the key issue is that Blade Runner is not and never was a big IP. The original film earned $32.87m over multiple releases, which equals $83.4m when adjusted for inflation. The logic behind 2049’s exorbitant cost is bizarre – why spend so much on a sequel to a movie that lost money and doesn’t quite appeal to younger audiences?
From what I’ve read, and heard from personal experience, younger crowds were expecting an action flick as opposed to a slower-paced dark sci-fi. It isn’t like George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road, a fellow follow-up to a decades-old series; Fury Road was a visceral and genuine action movie. Easier for mainstream crowds to digest and get into, essentially. Many consider Blade Runner to be one of the greatest movies ever produced, but it’s more of a cult classic than a commercial enterprise.
Not helping matters is that 2049 requires viewing the original movie, which happens to have five versions. The layman moviegoer might find that a tad overwhelming and/or unnecessarily complicated. Another issue that buried Blade Runner 2049 is its marketing campaign. Promotional material assumed that audiences were familiar with Blade Runner and trailers were secretive, shunning a potential new generation of fans. All in all, those responsible for 2049’s promotion overestimated the appeal of the franchise and couldn’t entice the unconverted. It’s a shame, though. The movie is genuinely beautiful, thoughtful, and well-crafted. Here’s hoping people give it a chance over the coming weeks.
Internationally, where Sony and Alcon Entertainment are handling distribution, Blade Runner 2049 found some solace – the film gathered $49.23 million from 63 markets, taking #1 in 45 of those. Global debut for 2049 is $81.99m, with top foreign openings being the U.K. ($8m, +15% over Mad Max: Fury Road), Russia ($4.9m, +1% over Fury Road), Australia ($3.6m, +28% over Gravity), France ($3.6m, -44% off Fury Road), and Germany ($3.3m, +14% over Fury Road).Â
Taking second, Fox’s The Mountain Between Us, directed by Hanu Abu-Assad and starring Idris Elba and Kate Winslet, opened with $10.55 million from 3,088 hubs. Despite being based on a book (which gives it a name-recognition boost), mixed-negative reviews tend to sink awards season flicks and that was the case here.
The Mountain Between Us scored a 45% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 6.0/10 on IMDb. The wilderness survival romance acted as counter-programming to Blade Runner 2049, but people just weren’t that interested. Fortunately for Fox, the movie carries a modest $35m production cost so it’s not a bomb, but they’ll need overseas markets to carry it from here. Speaking of overseas, The Mountain Between Us debuted with $3.66 million from 11 markets. Top openings came from Mexico ($1.1m), the U.K. ($1.1m), and Russia ($536k). The global debut for The Mountain Between Us is $14.21 million.
In third, Warner Bros./New Line’s ITÂ spooked up an additional $9.97 million, -41% from last frame. Domestic cume is a mighty $305.25m and the Stephen King adaptation eclipsed M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense ($293.51m) to become the highest-grossing horror film ever in the U.S. and Canada. Internationally, IT added $20.1 million from 64 markets, giving it overseas and global tallies of $299.1m and $604.35m. If the film can leg through Halloween season, there’s a good chance it’ll outgross The Sixth Sense worldwide ($672.81m).
Debuting in fourth, Lionsgate’s My Little Pony: The Movie reared $8.89 million from 2,528 venues. Similar to Warner Bros.’ The LEGO Ninjago Movie, people weren’t keen on heading to cinemas to see something readily available on TV.
On Friday, My Little Pony was heading for a $10m+ opening, a fine opening considering this probably cost little to produce. But the series’ niche fanbase turned out on Friday and didn’t really carry it through the weekend. Regardless, it’s doubtful much was riding on this. Internationally, My Little Pony: The Movie grossed $3.8 million from 49 markets, an unremarkable figure. Global debut is $12.69m, with top markets being Germany ($676k), Mexico ($533k), Poland ($411k), the Middle East ($220k), and Denmark ($213k). Majors such as Russia, France, and the U.K. will open later on.
Falling to fifth, Fox’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle lassoed $8.68 million in its third frame. This marks a -48.8% decline from last weekend and the film’s domestic tally is $80.54m. The Golden Circle hasn’t demonstrated great legs thus far and it’s lagging -6% behind its predecessor, Kingsman: The Secret Service, at the same point in release. With that said, the $104m spy sequel shouldn’t have an issue making a pretty penny for Fox, especially thanks to its international performance. Overseas, Kingsman: The Golden Circle grabbed $25.5 million from 69 markets, still pacing +45% ahead of The Secret Service. Totals are $173.16m internationally and $253.7m worldwide. Top markets for the Kingsman sequel are South Korea ($32.5m), the U.K. ($25.4m), Australia ($12.7m), Russia ($11.8m), and Taiwan ($9.6m).
HOLDOVERS
6. American Made (Universal) – $8.45 million (-49.7%), $30.82m cume
7. The LEGO Ninjago Movie (Warner Bros.) – $7 million (-39.9%), $44.08m cume
8. Victoria and Abdul (Focus) – $4.17 million (+282.0%), $5.99m cume
9. Flatliners (Sony) – $3.98 million (-39.5%), $12.5m cume
10. Battle of the Sexes (Fox Searchlight) – $2.56 million (-25.0%), $7.84m cume
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