\n\tFRIDAY AM UPDATE AFTER EXCLUSIVE: Previews are in with Disney\/Marvel Avengers Endgame: Encore grossing $3.8M yesterday, which is ahead of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith\u2018s $3.4M previews for its re-release last year.<\/p>\n
\n\tMind you, for quite some time before Spider-Man: Brand New Day came along, Avengers: Endgame had the domestic previews record of $60M (now No. 2). <\/p>\n
\n\tA24\u2019s Primetime<\/a> starring Robert Pattinson grossed a solid $2.7M at 2,859 theaters, $200K shy of the studio\u2019s previews for 2024\u2019s Civil War ($2.9M), which went on to a $25.5M opening. Also that\u2019s way ahead of recent Pattinson previews, i.e. this past spring\u2019s The Drama ($1.7M, $14.3M opening) and last year\u2019s Bong Joon Ho sci-fi feature Mickey 17 ($2.5M, $19M opening).<\/p>\n \n\tParamount\u2019s Heart of the Beast<\/a> made $2M, and that\u2019s from showtimes last night and Monday Mystery screenings. That figure bests the $1.5M made by Brad Pitt\u2019s 2019 sci-fi drama Ad Astra which went bowed to $19M.<\/p>\n \n\tRELATED: \u2018Heart Of The Beast\u2019 Review: Brad Pitt And A Soulful German Shepherd Struggle To Survive The Wilderness In An Emotional Journey That Will Have You Sobbing<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tWouldn\u2019t that be amazing if we had four movies this weekend doing north of $20M \u2014 meaning Avengers, Primetime, Heart of the Beast and Resident Evil<\/a>? Great news here for Heart of the Beast is that it\u2019s 97% with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes with way more love than Ad Astra (40% Rotten).<\/p>\n \n\tResident Evil should it do over $20M this weekend, which would clear the century mark stateside to become the 19th movie to top $100M this year. The Zach Cregger-directed Sony\/Constantin feature ends the week with $80.1M.<\/p>\n \n\tRELATED: \u2018Resident Evil\u2019 Review: Zach Cregger Brings Style, Humor And A Game Austin Abrams To Make Smart Original Reboot Of Horror Franchise<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tUniversal\/DreamWorks Animation\u2019s Forgotten Island<\/a> did $1.48M in previews all-in from showtimes yesterday ($750K at 2,650 sites), Mystery Monday screenings ($342K), and Sunday sneaks ($388K). That\u2019s ahead of post-Covid\u2019s The Bad Guys ($1.1M), which debuted to $23.9M in 2022, and not too far from The Wild Robot\u2018s $1.95M previews, which translated into a $35.7M opening in 2024. Original animated movies have become increasingly harder to launch. Good news here is that Forgotten Island is 95% fresh with critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and it\u2019s the only family choice until Warner Bros\u2019 animated The Cat in the Hat arrives on November 6<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tTop 5 for week:<\/p>\n Resident Evil (Sony) 3,684 theaters Wk $80.1M\/Wk 1 <\/p>\n Practical Magic 2 (WB) 4,163 theaters, Wk $16.2M (-57%), Total $54.1M\/Wk 2 <\/p>\n Spider-Man: Brand New Day (Sony) 3,017 theaters, Wk $8.6M (-23%), Total $946.5M\/Wk 8<\/p>\n The Odyssey (Uni) 1,546 theaters, Wk $8M (32%), Total $612.8M\/Wk 10<\/p>\n Coyote vs. Acme (Ketch) 3,035 theaters, Wk $6.2M (-61%), Total $56.4M\/Wk 4<\/p>\n \n\tEXCLUSIVE: Here\u2019s what\u2019s cool about this weekend. <\/p>\n \n\tWithout any wide entry opening to north of $30M, it\u2019s going to be a fantastic late-September frame at the box office. It wouldn\u2019t be shocking if the marketplace sees the best late-September weekend since 2018, when all films totaled $106.4M. From a pure box office standpoint \u2014 forget about budgets and marketing costs for a minute \u2014 we\u2019ve got four wide openings aimed at various demos in Disney\/Marvel Studios\u2019 Avengers Endgame: Encore (fanboys), A24\u2019s Primetime (Gen-Z and Robert Pattinson fans), Paramount\u2019s Brad Pitt dog movie Heart of the Beast (flyover states and men\/women adults) and Universal\/DreamWorks Animation\u2019s Forgotten Island (families).<\/p>\n \n\tRELATED: \u2018Forgotten Island\u2019 Review: H.E.R. And Dave Franco Give Life To Gorgeously Animated And Frenetic Toon<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tHeading into this weekend, it was believed that No. 1 could be a fight between Avengers Endgame: Encore and the second weekend of Sony\/Constantin\u2019s Resident Evil, respectively at $25M-$30M and $21M-$24M.<\/p>\n \n\tBut there are curveballs: It\u2019s the year of Pattinson in The Drama and beggars-getting-out-of-here memes in The Odyssey, and though A24 is eyeing $12M-$16M for his latest movie Primetime, about To Catch a Predator\u2018s Chris Hansen and his case gone wrong, the $15M-net production has a shot at a $20M opening in North America at 2,814 theaters.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt could be a three-way fight for No. 1,\u201d says one distribution source.<\/p>\n \n\tRELATED: \u2018Primetime\u2019 Review: Robert Pattinson Channels Jerry Maguire And Dracula For Lance Oppenheim\u2019s Dark TV Morality Tale \u2013 Venice Film Festival<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tWe\u2019re hearing that previews tonight for the first feature narrative title from documentary filmmaker Lance Oppenheim are chasing Avengers Endgame: Encore\u2018s $3M+ previews with a figure between $2M-$3M. Previews for the R-rated Primetime began at 4 p.m. Thursday, and Rotten Tomatoes reviews and critics are great at 86% certified fresh and 85%. Encore\u2018s showtimes began today at 2 p.m. Thursday.<\/p>\n \n\tThose previews for Primetime are ahead of Pattinson pics The Drama ($1.7M, $14.3M opening in April) and possibly Mickey 17 ($2.5M, $19M opening last year), in addition to the Gen-Z summer horror surprise Obsession ($2.6M, $17.1M opening). The A24 financed-by-foreign-sales movie is bowing abroad this weekend in France, Germany, Austria, Taiwan, Iceland, India, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.<\/p>\n \n\tMeanwhile, Avengers Endgame: Encore, boosted by four extra minutes of the Russo brothers\u2019 upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, has preview cash that could possibly surpass that of last year\u2019s Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith\u2018s re-release, which was $3.4M (that turned into a $25.4M opening). We heard presales for Encore were ahead of Revenge of the Sith\u2018s reissue. The asterisk here is that sometimes these re-releases can be front-loaded, so we\u2019ll see how Encore plays out. The Russo brothers\u2019 Encore is booked in around 3,000 theaters, boosted by Disney\/Marvel\u2019s new certification on 1,300 premium large-format screens, Infinity Vision<\/a>, plus 390 Imax hubs. Encore will share Imax and PLFs with Resident Evil.<\/p>\n \n\tRELATED: \u2018Avengers Endgame: Encore\u2019 Trailer Clocks 77 Million Views In 24 Hours, Quadrupling Record For A Re-Release Trailer<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tOverseas outlook for Encore is $25M in what\u2019s bound to be a $50M WW weekend give or take. While James Cameron\u2019s Avatar remains the No. 1 movie of all time at $2.92B worldwide, Avengers: Endgame is No. 2 with $2.799B (and Spider-Man Brand New Day No. 3 with $2.5B). There is a $124M WW box office gap between Avatar and Avengers: Endgame. Disney is in wait-and-see mode on whether Endgame could reclaim the all-time top spot before Doomsday\u2018s December 18 opening. Unlike Revenge of the Sith\u2018s one-week play, there\u2019s no endgame for Encore at the fall box office.<\/p>\n