“I think I can, I think I can be the top film at the box office,” says Sony’s original action film.
The Brad Pitt vehicle “Bullet Train” should take No. 1 on the domestic charts. The film earned $12.6 million from 4,357 locations on Friday and is forecasting a $30 million opening. It’s a solid performance for an original film with no franchise ties or multiverse shenanigans, but the film will have to keep circling until August to recoup its $90 million production budget.
All the star cast of the film should help in this. Along with Pitt, the ensemble cast includes Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Joy King, Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon and Benito A. Martinez Ocasio, aka Latin music superstar Bad Bunny.
“Bullet Train” is seen as somewhat of a check-up on the type of film for which audiences will drive to theatres. The R-rated action flick will be skewed towards adult males – the most credible demographic in terms of consistent theater attendance since the easing of the COVID-19 lockdown. However, with a marketing campaign that features a colorful cast of characters rather than any known intellectual property, “Bullet Train” is not a definite hit.
“Bullet Train” has earned lukewarm response from critics, garnering a 41% approval rating from top critics on the review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. Variety’s chief film critic Peter DeBrugge was engrossed in the film, writing that it “strives its hardest to channel the likes of Tarantino and Richie, even though the dialogue and mock-British accents are comparable to such.” Don’t be strong enough to earn.”
Viewers have been more receptive to “Bullet Train”. The film earned a “B+” grade through the research firm Cinema Score, indicating solid acceptance among general filmmakers. With August’s slate looking fairly light on high-profile releases, “Bullet Train” should be able to take advantage of a quieter theatrical landscape in the coming weeks. Paramount’s “The Lost City,” starring “Bullet Train” bit players Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum while Pitt was featured in a supporting role, came this spring before eventually crossing $100 million domestically. Opened for $30 million, it shows that the public will still roll out to the crowd pleaser without franchise ties.
Directed by Pitt’s former stunt double David Leach, who has since starred in actors such as “Atomic Blonde” and “Deadpool 2”, the film stars a hitman who lands on a high-speed train in Japan. Takes on a simple mission. However, he soon learns that a crop of assassins on the ship have conflicting tasks of their own.
Meanwhile, Universal’s “Easter Sunday,” the weekend’s other new wide release, isn’t making much of an impact on its debut, grossing $2 million on Friday. The studio is projecting a $5 million debut for comedian Joe Coe’s comedy from 3,175 locations, bringing the film to number eight on the domestic charts.
In “Easter Sunday,” Coe stars as a struggling actor and father attending the Easter Sunday celebrations of his dysfunctional Filipino American family. The comedy carries a modest price tag of $17 million before marketing and distribution costs, so Universal will keep its fingers crossed for solid word-of-mouth and a slew of competitive releases to help give the film some passive leg up. month will pass.
Warner Bros.’s release “DC League of Super-Pets” is in second place. The film grossed $3.35 million on Friday, a 64% drop from its opening day last week. The animated feature has been somewhat of an underperformer, especially for a film with DC Comics iconography (even if it follows furry friends from the Justice League). With the film’s current domestic gross of $38 million, “Super-Pets” still has a way to offset its $90 million production budget.
Not helping things for “Super-Pets” is the continued success of Universal’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” which has remained a huge hit with audiences since its debut on the Fourth of July weekend. The “Despicable Me” spinoff finished fifth on the domestic charts this weekend, a 38% drop in its sixth weekend. The film’s home run currently stands at an impressive $330 million.
Universal’s “Nope” is looking to take bronze for its third weekend, anticipating a run of $8 million. Jordan Peele’s sci-fi thriller should surpass $100 million domestic earnings sometime within the next week—a remarkable feat for an original film sold primarily under its director’s name.
Disney’s “Thor: Love and Thunder” is fourth on Friday, adding $2.2 million to its run. The Marvel Cinematic Universe entry currently ranks as the sixth biggest domestic release of the year, pushing its domestic gross past $315 million this weekend.