In a third consecutive win, Warner Bros. is doing scary great business at the box office thanks to New Line’s critically acclaimed Final Destination: Bloodlines.
The supernatural horror-thriller pic topped Friday’s chart with $20.8 million from 3,523 cinemas, including $5.5 million in Thursday previews, for an estimated franchise-best opening in the $46 million to $48 million range. That’s more than enough to come in No. 1, as well successfully revive a long-dormant franchise that was first introduced to audiences a quarter of a century ago. The last installment, Final Destination 5, was released in 2011 and opened to $18 million, not adjusted for inflation.
Embraced by both critics and audiences, Bloodlines is directed by Adam Stein and Zach Lipovsky. The R-rated title stars Kaitlyn Santa Juana as a young woman who discovers that her grandmother was able to cheat death and save numerous lives, albeit it with frightening consequences. Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Anna Lore Tony Todd, Gabrielle Rose, Brec Bassinger and Max Lloyd-Jones also star.
Warners is dominating the upper reaches of the box office chart beyond just Bloodlines.
Ryan Coogler‘s water-cooler sensation Sinners, now in its fifth weekend, isn’t far behind Disney and Marvel’s Thunderbolts*, which is on course to place second in its third weekend with $15 million to $16 million. That would put the superhero pic’s domestic total north of $150 million through Sunday as it clears the $300 million mark globally.
Sinners could earn as much as $15 million for an eye-popping North American tally of $240 million-plus.
A Minecraft Movie is also enjoying en enviable hold and is looking at a fourth-place finish with $5.5 million to $6 million in its seventh weekend. The video game adaptation is the top-grossing pic of the year to date with more than $900 million in global ticket sales.
Rounding out the top five is Amazon MGM Studios’ The Accountant, starring Ben Affleck. The pic is expected to gross $4.6 million in its fourth outing for a solid domestic total of nearly $60 million.
The outlook for Lionsgate and Live Nation’s Hurry Up Tomorrow, a musical psychological thriller about a tormented pop star played by Abel Tesfaye — also known as The Weeknd — isn’t so good. The film, a companion piece to his studio album of the same name, is expected to open in sixth place with $3 million to $3.6 million.
Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan co-star in Hurry Up Tomorrow, which has been panned by critics. Audiences aren’t so enamored, either (the pic was slapped with a C- CinemaScore). Directed by Trey Edward Shults, the film sees Tesfaye play a fictionalized version of himself, or rather, a musician on the verge of a mental breakdown who is pulled into an existential odyssey by a mysterious stranger.
At the specialty box office, A24’s Friendship is expanding into 62 locations. It’s on course to earn $2.5 million for a per-theater average of $23,333, the best of the weekend.
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