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Fox Searchlight went after whatever remaining 18-34 demo was out there this summer with the launch of its black comedy horror thriller Ready or Not yesterday. It grossed an estimated $1.9 million at 2,244 locations (including $730,0000 in Tuesday previews) for Wednesday’s No. 2 spot. ComScore shows that by Friday the number of colleges remaining on summer break will be at 62%, down from 93% last Friday. K-12 schools on break erodes from 56% to 28%.
The first horror thriller for Searchlight since arguably 2013’s Stoker follows Samara Weaving as a bride who marries into a rich family with a vicious hazing ritual for its newfound family members. Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, Ready or Not was praised by critics with a 91% certified fresh score, and so far has a good CinemaScore of B+. PostTrak exits were lower at 3 stars and a 50% recommend.
Currently, industry estimates are around $6.5M for Ready or Not‘s three-day frame and $9.5M over five days, and the hope is that good word of mouth and reviews improve those numbers for this estimated $6M net production. By tomorrow, the film will be Searchlight’s widest release in the label’s 25 years at 2,820; its previous widest entry was 2002’s Goldie Hawn-Susan Sarandon comedy The Banger Sisters at 2,738 locations.
Despite Ready or Not‘s early start, it’s a tossup between Millennium/Lionsgate’s Gerard Butler threequel Angel Has Fallen and Universal’s second weekend of the R-rated comedy Good Boys taking No. 1 with $14M-$15M. Good Boys through six days counts $28.6M, pacing 13% head of the studio’s R-rated teen comedy Blockers (which was an April 2018 release) at the same point in time. That pic ended its domestic run at $60M. Good Boys led all titles yesterday with an estimated $1.94M, nickels ahead of Ready or Not.
Angel Has Fallen begins showtimes tonight at 7 PM. The previous Butler pics in the series, Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen, opened to $30.3M and $21.6M, respectively. The movies typically do a 3x multiple stateside, with London reaping 70% of its global $205.7M abroad. Lionsgate has U.S. and UK rights to the movie, and it plays in roughly 3,200 sites by tomorrow. In the sequel, Butler’s Secret Service Agent Mike Banning is framed for the attempted assassination of the President and must evade his own agency and the FBI as he tries to uncover the real threat. Butler also produces the pic.
Sony Affirm Films has the Alex and Stephen Kendrick movie Overcomer in roughly 1,700 locations with an eye on $5M-$7M. The brothers’ previous late-August faith-based pic, War Room, surprised the industry by taking No. 1 over the 2015 Labor Day holiday (the pic’s second weekend) with $13.3M. Overcomer follows a high school basketball coach and his team as their state championship dreams are crushed under the weight of unexpected news. When the largest manufacturing plant shuts down and hundreds of families leave their town, the coach questions how he and his family will face an uncertain future. He reluctantly agrees to coach cross-country, and meets an aspiring athlete who’s pushing her limits on a journey toward discovery.
Whatever reigns at No. 1 this weekend, is expected to continue to do so into summer’s end for the four-day Labor Day frame next weekend. There’s only one wide entry over the holiday, OTL/Blumhouse’s Don’t Let Go, which Briarcliff Entertainment is releasing.