The Predator underwhelms with a $24 million opening weekend
Following a flurry of negative reviews and a press tour marred by controversy, 20th Century Fox's The Predator got off to a weak start at the box office this weekend.
The franchise reboot took in an estimated $24 million domestically, Box Office Mojo reports, enough for it to take the top slot but not enough for the studio to see it as much of a success. Tracking had indicated that The Predator would open between $25 million and $30 million domestically, Variety reported last month. Overseas, the film took in $30.7 million, whereas Fox was reportedly anticipating at least $40 million, Deadline reports.
In fact, The Predator's debut was slightly below that of the most recent sequel, Predators, which made $24.7 million in 2010 despite opening in fewer theaters and costing over half as much as The Predator.
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What's to blame for the disappointing turnout? The Predator's press tour was something of a disaster. It was revealed that Olivia Munn got the studio to cut out a scene with a registered sex offender at the last minute, having not learned about the man's past until after filming had been completed, and she said the studio "chastised" her for bringing it up.
But it could also just be a bad movie. Critics mostly panned the film, calling it tonally inconsistent and fairly generic overall, and the general public seemed to agree. CinemaScore, which polls a sampling of moviegoers from across the country, found that viewers gave it an average rating of C+. It will likely see a steep second-weekend drop, and the final gross may be disappointing enough for this franchise to sink back into retirement.
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