Box Office: ‘Glass’ Breaking for $47 Million Opening Weekend
M. Night Shyamalan’s “Glass” is heading for a solid opening of about $47 million at 3,841 North American locations during its first four days, early estimates showed Friday.
The performance is slightly below Universal’s forecasts of $50 million for its supernatural thriller, which took in $3.7 million at 3,200 North American sites in Thursday night previews. “Glass” brings together the narratives of Shyamalan’s “Unbreakable,” which was released in 2000, and his 2017 hit “Split.”
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Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, James McAvoy, and Sarah Paulson star. “Glass” is expected to deliver the second-largest debut for January and for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, behind only “American Sniper,” which grossed $107.2 million during Friday-Monday in 2015. “Glass” could surpass “Ride Along” as the second-best bow during the four-day frame if it can top the $48 million that Kevin Hart and Ice Cube’s buddy comedy took in during the same period in 2014.
Shyamalan wrote, directed, and financed “Glass,” which carries a $20 million budget. McAvoy is reprising his his 24 roles as “the Horde” from “Split,” which debuted with $40 million two years ago on its way to a surprisingly strong $138 million domestically and $278 million worldwide. Willis is back as David Dunn along with Jackson as his Elijah Price/Mr. Glass character from “Unbreakable.” Paulson portrays a psychiatrist who treats patients convinced they are superhuman beings.
Initial tracking for “Glass” in late December had been in the $70 million range but moviegoer enthusiasm may have been dampened by downbeat reviews. The current Rotten Tomatoes score is 36%.
The second weekend of “The Upside” should lead the rest of the pack with about $16 million at 3,080 venues over the four days, Friday estimates showed. The Kevin Hart-Bryan Cranston comedy-drama should wind up the weekend with a North American total in the $45 million range in its first 11 days for STX and Lantern.
Warner Bros. fifth frame of “Aquaman” will probably finish third with about $13 million at 3,863 locations during the four days — enough to push the tentpole past the $300 million mark in domestic grosses, the 79th title to do so. “Aquaman” has already crossed the billion-dollar mark in worldwide box office.
Sony’s second weekend of canine adventure “A Dog’s Way Home” and its sixth weekend of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” will be battling for fourth place with about $10 million each. “Dog’s Way” should finish the fame with around $25 milllion while the seventh “Spider-Man” will go past $160 million on Monday.
Funimation Films’ Japanese anime movie “Dragon Ball Super: Broly,” which grossed more than $10 million on Wednesday and Thursday at 1,260 North American sites, is projected to bring in another $6 million over the Friday-Monday period. It will be battling with the fifth weekends of “Mary Poppins Returns” and “Bumblebee” and the third weekend of “Escape Room” for sixth place.
Universal’s “On the Basis of Sex” is pegged for about $4 million at 1,957 locations this weekend, which will lift the Ruth Bader Ginsberg project past $17 million after two weeks in wide release.
Fox’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” crossed a milestone Friday by topping the $200 million mark in its 78th day of domestic release. The Rami Malek vehicle finished 11th on the chart during the prior weekend with $3.2 million at 1,334 sites as the studio added sing-along screenings at more than 700 sites.
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