Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, and the rest of the cast of The Magnificent Seven are hoping to do the impossible. Open a western. This is a genre that has seen some hard disappointments in the past couple years (The Lone Ranger, Cowboys and Aliens) and needs something to brighten its future. Can the one-two combination of Denzel and Pratt open? This is one of two films this fall that will test Chris Pratt’s ability to open a film outside of a franchise (the other being Passengers in December). Denzel has had solid success with September, having already opened The Equalizer to 35M, and proving his fans will come out this month. Some tracking suggests this might break 40M, but I’m going with a safer prediction of 35M. I just don’t think a western can make 40M in September.
The other big new release is Storks, which doesn’t quite have the franchise potential that Hotel Transylvania did, nor is it based on a popular children’s novel like Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. Still, Storks is looking to fly high this weekend, with around 30M.
Other than Sully, the rest of the films aren’t really making money. Sully is looking to drop again to around 11M. The trio from last weekend will likely change up their ranks. This is where cinemascores come into play. A film like Snowden, which pulled an A cinemascore, should hold much better than Blair Witch with its D+. So, Snowden should pull ahead of Blair Witch this weekend, as Blair Witch is likely to drop 65% in week two.
1) The Magnificent Seven- 35M Weekend, 35M Total
2) Storks- 30M Weekend, 30M Total
3) Sully- 11M Weekend, 89M Total
4) Snowden- 5M Weekend, 16M Total
5) Bridget Jones’s Baby- 4.5M Weekend, 16M Total
6) Blair Witch- 4M Weekend, 16M Total
7) Don’t Breathe- 4M Weekend, 81M Total
8) Suicide Squad- 3.5M Weekend, 318M Total
9) When The Bough Breaks- 2.5M Weekend, 26M Total
10) The Wild Life- 2M Weekend, 9M Total
