While Street Fighter has earned surprisingly poor reviews, it looks like video game fans are still turning out to see their favorite characters on the big screen. Deadline reports that the movie made $4 million in preview screenings last night, which points to an opening in the $30 million range (although I stand by my $25 million prediction — I think it will be front-loaded). Notably, the previews are below the $5.2 million Mortal Kombat 2 made on its preview night, and that one opened with $38 million. Street Fighter cost about $82 million, so it doesn’t need to be a juggernaut in North America to potentially get a franchise. All eyes will be on how the film performs in Asia, where Street Fighter is an even bigger property than it is here. If it cleans up in Asia, don’t be surprised if this turns into a franchise — unless its business totally collapses over the course of the weekend.
But the real surprise is A24’s Elizabeth Holmes documentary You Can See Everything. Despite a three-hour running time and the fact that it’s only opening on about 800 screens, the film, directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, made $2 million, which is an unusually strong result for a doc. It should at least make $10 million for the weekend — possibly more, as it looks like the appeal for this one is going pretty mainstream (I thought it was a masterpiece). It actually looks like it will beat 20th Century Studios’ Whalefall, which had a mild $1 million preview night, about the same as Focus Features’ Jane Austen adaptation, Sense and Sensibility.
We’ll be back tomorrow with more box office stats. In the meantime, what are you planning to see this weekend? Let us know in the comments.
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