John Krasinski’s family fantasy film takes the lead, earning $10.3 million on its opening day from 4,041 locations across Friday and preview screenings. Paramount’s family comedy “IF” is looking down to 30.5M in its opening weekend, but the expectation for debut was relatively high; the original forecast was a debut of around 40M.
Despite its underperformance, ‘IF ‘, the live-action/CGI animated Paramount pic, has managed to garner positive sentiment from the public. With a $110 million production budget, the PG-rated family film failed to reach its substantial level. However, the survey firm Cinema Score gave it a glowing “A” grade from the first group of ticket buyers, indicating a strong positive response from the audience. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the audience score is 85% fresh, further highlighting the film’s appeal.
With the assistance of an A-list voice cast, Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming explore the world of discarded imaginary friends from their former owners and follow a young girl and her neighbour trying to reunite with their previous human pals. The impressive voice cast features Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Steve Carell, Emily Blunt, Louis Gossett Jr., Matt Damon, Maya Rudolph, Jon Stewart, Sam Rockwell, Sebastian Maniscalco, Christopher Meloni, Awkwafina, Blake Lively, George Clooney, Matthew Rhys, Bradley Cooper, Amy Schumer and Keegan-Michael Key.
Meanwhile, Lionsgate’s latest horror prequel “Strangers: Chapter 1” in 2,856 venues, with plans for the next two entries to be released in the coming months. The Renny Harlin-directed feature takes an impressive high jump in accomplishing third position on the board, earning $5.1 million across opening day and previews. That’s a strong start considering the production budget of only $8.5 million; the film now looks to surge past projections for a $9 million debut for a bow north of $11.5 million.
The film has received poor reviews and has low audience sentiment, with a “C” grade on Cinema Score and a 42% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. These are not unusual for a horror movie, but the question for Lionsgate’s horror prequel is whether it can continue to attract viewers and hold its own position?
Focus Features’ “Back to Black” looking to earn $3M in its opening weekend in 2,010 locations. Directed by Taylor-Johnson, the movie has earned $36 million internationally, including $14.1 million in Winehouse’s native Britain. Reviews aren’t positive, though a “B+” grade on Cinema Score indicates it satisfies most early moviegoers.
Disney’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” dropped to the second place, earning $6.8 million on Friday, with a 70% decrease seen from its opening day. The science-fiction film directed by Wes Ball is expected to surpass $100 million in domestic box office sales over the weekend, making it the fifth film of 2024 to achieve this milestone.
In its third weekend, Universal’s “The Fall Guy” takes fourth place with an estimated $8.1 million, marking a 41% decrease from its second weekend. Directed by David Leitch, the action film has maintained modest box office numbers, but has yet to fully rebound from its disappointing opening in early May. By the end of Sunday, the film’s domestic total is expected to reach around $62 million.
Watch the Official Trailer If Movie:
