{"id":125098,"date":"2025-11-08T19:14:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T19:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/125098\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T19:14:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T19:14:10","slug":"badlands-earns-15-6-million-opening-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/125098\/","title":{"rendered":"Badlands’ Earns $15.6 Million Opening Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe sci-fi sequel \u201cPredator: Badlands<\/a>\u201d is opening atop the theatrical food chain, while a bunch of adult-skewing wide releases like Jennifer Lawrence\u2019s \u201cDie My Love<\/a>,\u201d Sydney Sweeney\u2019s \u201cChristy<\/a>\u201d and Russell Crowe and Rami Malek\u2019s \u201cNuremberg<\/a>\u201d are debuting further down the charts. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe \u201cPredator\u201d entry got to the chopper with $15.6 million across Friday and preview screenings in 3,725 locations. That puts it on the path to land well ahead of its pre-weekend projections, which had forecast an opening from $25 million to $30 million. As a comp, \u201cAlien: Romulus\u201d \u2014 another Disney revival of a sci-fi property that it acquired in the 20th Century Fox merger of 2019 \u2014\u00a0earned $42 million in its August 2024 debut.<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking of \u201cAlien,\u201d \u201cPredator: Badlands\u201d even has an outside shot at the biggest theatrical bow ever for the \u201cPredator\u201d franchise if it overachieves Saturday. The record is held by the 2004 crossover \u201cAlien vs. Predator\u201d ($38 million). But it\u2019s worth noting that the \u201cPredator\u201d series has been out of theaters in recent years. The last two entries \u2014 the 2022 prequel \u201cPrey\u201d and this year\u2019s animated anthology \u201cPredator: Killer of Killers\u201d \u2014 debuted directly on Hulu and Disney+. Director Dan Trachtenberg, who helmed both of those features, returned for the PG-13-rated \u201cBadlands,\u201d which stars newcomer Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi as a young Predator outcast and Elle Fanning as his legless android companion.<\/p>\n

\n\tDisney spent $105 million on producing \u201cPredator: Badlands,\u201d plus more on marketing expenses. It\u2019s a considerable budget, but far less than the $180 million that the studio put towards its recent sci-fi flop \u201cTron: Ares.\u201d \u201cBadlands\u201d will outperform the $33 million opening weekend of \u201cAres,\u201d plus it has better reviews to boost word-of-mouth in the weeks ahead. Audiences liked it too, as moviegoer survey firm Cinema Score polled an \u201cA-\u201d grade from early crowds.<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong the weekend\u2019s other new wide releases, Amazon MGM Studios\u2019 \u201cSarah\u2019s Oil\u201d is faring the best, heading to a fourth-place bow after earning $1.7 million across Friday and previews in 2,410 locations. Projections are at $4.4 million for the weekend. The early-1900s-set and PG-rated drama, about one of the first Black women to become a millionaire, comes from Wonder Project and Kingdom Story. Not many critics have reviewed it, though CinemaScore turned in the highest marks possible with an \u201cA+\u201d grade.<\/p>\n

\n\tSony Pictures Classics has the historical courtroom drama \u201cNuremberg\u201d in 1,802 locations after premiering it at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. It\u2019s in the race for fifth. Grosses hit about $1.4 million across Friday and previews. Reviews lean positive for the James Vanderbilt-directed period piece, though it\u2019s hardly a critical darling. SPC acquired rights from producers Walden Media and Bluestone Entertainment in June.<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, Mubi has Lynne Ramsay\u2019s \u201cDie My Love,\u201d starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, in 1,983 locations. It\u2019s the widest release ever for the indie-focused banner, which bowed \u201cThe Substance\u201d in 1,949 theaters last year for a $3.2 million debut. That horror movie legged out to $17 million domestic and $77 million worldwide, becoming a significant awards season force along the way.<\/p>\n

\n\tHere\u2019s hoping Mubi has a similar long-term vision for \u201cDie My Love,\u201d which earned roughly $1 million across Friday and previews. It\u2019s a slim start considering the company acquired the starry drama for $24 million, in what was the most high-profile deal out of this year\u2019s Cannes Film Festival. General audiences didn\u2019t go for the arthouse title, with CinemaScore turning in a terrible \u201cD+\u201d grade.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn danger of opening outside the top 10, Black Bear Pictures is making its maiden voyage as a distributor with its release of \u201cChristy,\u201d starring Sydney Sweeney as boxer Christy Martin. Playing in 2,011 locations, the drama had a very quiet start, with roughly $670,000 across Friday and previews. Black Bear has looked to position \u201cChristy\u201d as a best actress Oscar contender, kicking off with a festival premiere at Toronto. Much like \u201cNuremberg,\u201d reviews are respectable but hardly superlative. Audiences liked the movie at a \u201cB+\u201d grade from CinemaScore.<\/p>\n

\n\tSecond place looks to go to Paramount\u2019s drama \u201cRegretting You,\u201d earning another $2.2 million on Friday and projecting a $7.3 million third weekend for a slim 7% drop. The Colleen Hoover adaptation has shown good holds since its opening and looks to hit a $38 million total domestic gross through Sunday.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn third, Universal\u2019s \u201cBlack Phone 2\u201d earned $1.5 million on Friday and is projecting $5.2 million for its fourth outing, down just 38% from its prior frame. The Blumhouse sequel looks to hit a total domestic gross of $70 million through Sunday, pacing a touch behind its 2022 predecessor ($72 million through four weekends).<\/p>\n

\n\tFocus Features\u2019 kidnap thriller \u201cBugonia\u201d is vying for fifth, earning $1.1 million on Friday and projecting $3.7 million for its second weekend of wide release (down 26%). The Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone reunion should hit a $12.5 million domestic total through Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The sci-fi sequel \u201cPredator: Badlands\u201d is opening atop the theatrical food chain, while a bunch of adult-skewing wide…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[6941,81660,156,409,111,139,11738,69,53294],"class_list":{"0":"post-125098","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-christy","9":"tag-die-my-love","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-movies","12":"tag-new-zealand","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nuremberg","15":"tag-nz","16":"tag-predator-badlands"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}