It took a demonic nun to end the reign of Crazy Rich Asians at the box office, but it’s a trophy-hunting alien that’s the weekend’s new movie champion. Shane Black’s sci-fi action sequel The Predator won the weekend box office with a modest $24 million premiere, knocking last weekend’s top movie, The Nun, down to second place. It wasn’t a flawless victory for The Predator , though, which received negative reviews from the majority of professional critics and just as bad of an appraisal from ticket-buying audiences, which gave the film a C+ grade .
The opening weekend for The Predator didn’t exactly put it in a good place franchise-wise, either. The film’s premiere was the third best in the six-film franchise — which includes the two Alien vs. Predator crossover films — and the second best among the four solo Predator movies so far. Given that it was also the most expensive movie in the franchise so far, box-office profits might not be easy prey for the series’ alien hunter this time around.
# Title Weekend U.S. Total Worldwide Total
- The Predator $24M $24M $54.7M
- The Nun $18.2M $85M $228.6M
- A Simple Favor $16M $16M $19.5M
- White Boy Rick $8.8M $8.8M $8.8M
- Crazy Rich Asians $8.7M $149.5M $187.4M
- Peppermint $6M $24.2M $25.6M
- The Meg $3.8M $137M $505.2M
- Searching $3.2M $19.6M $45.8M
- Unbroken: Path to Redemption $2.3M $2.3M $2.3M
- Mission: Impossible – Fallout $2.3M $216.1M $760.9M
The Predator wasn’t the only new release to crack the top 10n films, with three other films also debuting among the highest-grossing movies of the weekend. Paul Feig’s female-led thriller A Simple Favor — which stars Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick — paired positive reviews from critics and audiences with a $16 million premiere that was good for third place. Meanwhile, ’80s drug drama White Boy Rick began generating some Oscar buzz for supporting actor Matthew McConaughey during its $8.8 million premiere, which helped it lock down fourth place.
Further down the list, faith-based drama Unbroken: Path to Redemption managed a ninth-place debut with its “spiritual sequel” to Angelina Jolie’s 2014 film Unbroken. The post-summer movie lull is fully upon us at this point, with many of the biggest films held until November and December in order to take advantage of the end-of-year holidays and keep them fresh on the minds of awards voters. The most noteworthy films hitting theaters this upcoming week include kid-friendly scary movie The House With a Clock in its Walls and the biopic of legendary music producer Quincy Jones, called Quincy. Yahoo
Pix: Face of The Predator
