Ares' Previews Around $5 Million To Start Run

Disney is reporting that Tron: Ares previews are coming in at $4.8 million. That includes limited Wednesday early shows and previews that began Thursday at 2 p.m.

Knock on wood this one opens to its tracking, meaning north of $40M; we don’t need any movies underperforming. The fall, though ahead of last year by 2% at around $674M, is OK but not vibrant with myriad starry adult movies such as Dwayne Johnson’s The Smashing Machine and Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell’s A Big Bold Beautiful Journey not working. The male-heavy Tron: Ares faces competition from MLB playoffs this weekend as well as NFL. Good news: The pic’s Rotten Tomatoes audience score stands at 86%, better than the previous installment, 2010’s Tron: Legacy, which did 64% fresh.

Tron: Ares previews certainly are ahead of Tron: Legacy‘s preview cash, which was $3.6M, but that was back in the era of the midnight preview. Right now, it’s look like Tron: Ares will file under such fanboy reboots as last year’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes ($6.6M total previews) and Alien: Romulus ($6.5M). It’s also under that of Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes ($5.8M). Advance ticket sales we told you for Tron: Ares were at $7M, on par with Alien: Romulus, which opened to $42M. Songbirds & Snakes bowed to $45M.

Previews for the Joachim Rønning-directed movie movie are ahead of The Equalizer 3, which yielded a $3.8M preview and a $35M three-day opening in 2023. Tron: Ares, produced by its star Jared Leto and former Disney Head of Production Sean Bailey, cost $180M before P&A.

Miramax and Paramount’s Channing Tatum-Kirsten Dunst romance caper Roofman collected $1M from 2,800 locations Thursday. Showtimes started at 7 p.m. Audiences gave the pic 4 out of 5 stars on PostTrak. No audience score yet, but reviews are at 82% on Rotten Tomatoes. The $19M production goes wide today at 3,362 sites. Tatum’s Dog did $1.26M in Valentine’s Day sneaks and previews before earning a $5M Friday and $14.8M 3-day driven by his female audience. However that movie was PG-13, and Roofman is rated R. The 3-day on Roofman is around $10M.

Sony/Affirm’s Soul on Fire made $575,000 from showtimes that began at 4 p.m. at 1,450 sites. The film received an A CinemaScore and 5-star PostTrak rating. The movie is from Soul Surfer filmmaker Sean McNamara. Logline for faith-based film: After suffering an accident, a young boy ends up relying on his family, his faith and his community in his fight for survival.

Here’s the rest of the top 5 for the week

1) Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl (AMC) Wk $34M/Wk 1 (remember, it didn’t play the weekdays)

2) One Battle After Another (WB) 3,634 theaters, Thu $1M (-22%) Wk $16.2M (-49%), Total $47.8M/Wk 2

3) The Smashing Machine (A24) 3,345 theaters, Thu $316K (-34%), Wk $7.7M/Wk 1

4) Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie (Uni) 3,507 theaters, Thu $298K (-1%), Wk $6.6M (-60%)/Total $23M/Wk 2

5) The Conjuring: Last Rites (NL/WB) 2,753 theaters, Thu $370K (-3%), WK $5.76M (-37%), Total $169.5M/Wk 5

Ares’ Previews Around $5 Million To Start Run

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