Henry Golding in Snake Eyes and Gael Garcia Bernal in Old
M. Night Shyamalan is scoring another No. 1 win at the domestic box office, where his thriller Old is slithering past fellow new offering Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins to win the spoils of an overall quiet weekend.
Old — about a family whose tropical vacation turns into an age-accelerating nightmare — grossed $6.9 million Friday from 3,355 locations, including $1.5 million in Thursday evening previews. At this pace, the film is expected to near $16 million for the weekend.
Old, starring Gael García Bernal and Vicky Krieps, was inspired by the graphic novel Sandcastle.
Paramount and Hasbro’s Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, starring Henry Golding, isn’t far behind. The G.I. Joe reboot is opening in second place with an estimated $14.2 million for the weekend after grossing $5.5 million Friday from 3,521 locations, including $1.4 million in previews.
Snake Eyes is skewing heavily male (66 percent), according to Friday PostTrak exit polls.
In normal times, Snake Eyes — which had hoped to relaunch an important franchise for Hasbro and Paramount — would have been expected to do far more business. The movie’s performance is no doubt a disappointment for the filmmakers as the box office recovery continues at a slow pace.
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And while Old marks the seventh time that a Shyamalan movie has opened at No. 1, it is still the lowest nationwide start for the director-writer.
The wild swings at the box office — as well as relatively low openings for many movies in comparison to the past— reflect that moviegoing has yet to reach pre-pandemic levels. And in recent days, the Delta variant has further complicated matters.
This weekend, Old and Snake Eyes are on course to claim the top two spots on the box office chart, ahead of Warner Bros.’ Space Jam: A New Legacy, which last weekend toppled Disney’s Black Widow.
Like many other event pics that are debuting simultaneously in the home, Space Jam 2 is facing a steep 65 percent to 70 percent fall in its second weekend.
The family movie is also available on HBO Max at no extra charge, while Black Widow — now in its third weekend — is streaming on Disney+ Premier Access for an additional $30.
Black Widow — now in its third frame — looks to redeem itself somewhat (at least perception-wise) after tumbling 68 percent in its sophomore outing. Early estimates show the Marvel pic pulling ahead of Space Jam 2 this weekend with a gross in the $11 million range as it crosses the $150 million mark domestically.
Black Widow earned $3.4 million on Friday, while Space Jam 2 took in $3.1 million, a 77 percent drip from is first Friday.
Elsewhere, the specialty film Joe Bell, starring Mark Wahlberg, is getting broadsided in its debut in 1,094 cinemas. The movie may have trouble hitting $800,000 for the weekend. Roadside Attractions is distributing the film domestically.
One bright spot: in a second win of the weekend for Universal, F9 has become the first Hollywood event pic to zoom past the $600 million mark at the worldwide box office. The tentpole received an exclusive theatrical release.
