Things are not looking great for Blade Runners 2049 box office premiere. The highly anticipated sci-fi sequel is on track to gross an estimated $31.5 million in the U.S. and Canada during its opening weekend, beating the competition but falling short of industry’s projections, which predicted the movie would make between $45 to $55 million.
Blade Runner 2049 Box Office
2049 received stellar reviews had a large number of advance ticket sales and included an all-star cast including Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling. Even the movie’s director had a stellar track record as Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Sicario) directed the project. Not to mention, the movie’s original filmmaker Ridley Scott joined the production as an executive producer.
According to reports, for those who did show up and watch the movie over the weekend, men predominately made up the demographics of the movie’s audience as 71% of men watched the film with 63% being over the age of 35, 86% over the age of 25.
Also, viewers gave it a solid A-minus Cinemascore. While $31.5 is a box-office record for Villeneuve and Gosling, it’s a disappointing start for a movie that cost $150 million to make. The movie’s premiere draws comparisons to Ridley Scott’s Alien Covenant, which was another sci-fi reboot that required a lot of money to make and made approximately the same at the box office.
Produced by Alcon Entertainment and released by Warner Bros. domestically, the movie is estimated to make an additional $50.2 million overseas over the weekend.
The original Blade Runner, which hit theaters over 30 years ago was not a box office hit either. But, a cult following for the movie slowly grew. The original film starred Harrison Ford as a cop hunting down robots in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, Fox’s romance thriller The Mountain Between Us made $10.1 million in the box office. The new movie, which stars Idris Elba and Kate Winslet center around strangers stranded by a plane crash in the wilderness.
Overall, box office is down 4.8 percent year-to-date. Here are the box office’s top 10 movies this weekend:
1. Blade Runner 2049 — $31.5 million
2. The Mountain Between Us — $10.1 million
3. It — $9.7 million
4. My Little Pony: The Movie — $8.8 million
5. Kingsman: The Golden Circle — $8.1 million
6. American Made — $8 million
7. The Lego Ninjago Movie — $6.8 million
8. Victoria and Abdul — $4.1 million
9. Flatliners — $3.8 million
10. Battle of the Sexes— $2.4 million