'The Predator' Kills The Box Office Competition But Shockingly Falls Short Of Previous Film In Series

It’s been eight years since the Predator has stalked movie audiences. While the cast has changed and the budget has more than doubled, Fox is probably feeling a bit of déjà vu. You see, even after almost a decade, Shane Black’sThe Predator” put up almost the exact same box office number as 2010’s “Predators.”

According to estimates, “The Predator” earned $24 million in its first three days of release. As mentioned, this is almost the exact number as the previous film in the franchise, “Predators,” which posted $24.8 million after three days. And while most films would be happy with a $24 million weekend, for Fox, this is not the number they had in mind when sinking an $88 million (reportedly) budget to reboot the ‘Preadator’ franchise.

READ MORE: The Messy Nihilism And Shared DNA Of ‘The Predator,’ ‘Alien: Covenant,’ & ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’

There is a silver lining to this new film finishing below the 2010 film. “Predators” saw a ridiculously high 72% drop in its second weekend and finished with a domestic total of $52 million. With the time of year, it’s hard to believe that Black’s “The Predator” will do that poorly. So, unless something catastrophic happens, this new reboot should improve on that domestic total.

READ MORE: Shane Black Says Schwarzenegger Rejected A Role In ‘The Predator’ In Favor Of ‘Terminator 6’

The bad news, of course, is it’ll take a lot more than $52 million domestically for the studio to see some profit. With a C+ CinemaScore (also matching ‘Predators’), word-of-mouth doesn’t seem strong enough to indicate “The Predator” will have amazing legs moving forward.

Internationally, “The Predator” pulled in another $30.7 million, which is…fine. We never want to write off a film after only three days of release, but it looks like Shane Black’s film is going to turn out to be a box office dud for Fox.

READ MORE: ‘The Predator’ Is An Enjoyable Popcorn Flick With The Undeniable Shane Black Flair [TIFF Review]

Last week’s massive debut for “The Nun” meant that analysts were predicting a large drop for the horror film in its second weekend, and they were right. Dropping 66%, the latest ‘Conjuring’ spin-off pulled in $18.2 million for second place. That brings the domestic total for “The Nun” to $85 million, which is still incredible. While the film has already done admirably after 10 days, as the fall competition hits theaters in the coming weeks, we’ll really get to see how well “The Nun” sticks around. Either way, Warner Bros. has to be pleased with the film’s performance, as of now. Worldwide, the film currently sits at $228.7 million.

READ MORE: ‘The Nun’ Conjures Up Franchise Best $53.5 Million At The Box Office

There were a couple other big debuts this weekend, with differing results. The good news, if you’re Lionsgate, is Paul Feig’s sexy thriller (a definite change of pace for the comedic director) “A Simple Favor” outperformed predictions with a very respectable $16 million debut. The Anna Kendrick/Blake Lively film has a reported budget of only $20 million, which means this weekend’s debut for “A Simple Favor” means Feig’s film has the potential to early a pretty penny for the studio. The mystery-thriller earned a B+ CinemaScore, which means audiences were enjoying the new direction for the “Bridesmaids” and “Spy” filmmaker.

On the other side of the spectrum is Matthew McConaughey’sWhite Boy Rick.” The supposed awards contender is kicking off the prestige film season, but perhaps not on the best foot. The crime-drama/biopic earned a paltry $8.8 million in its opening weekend. While the film was never positioned as a blockbuster, many predicted, coming into the season, that “White Boy Rick” could be a film that catches on with audiences and becomes a true Oscar contender. However, after its soft premiere on the festival circuit, earning mixed reviews (the film currently stands at 64% on Rotten Tomatoes), the buzz never built around the film based on a true story. Now, it appears that audiences weren’t fans either, with a not-so-great B CinemaScore. As we’ve mentioned before, a B isn’t the end of the world, but in terms of CinemaScore, it’s a sign that word-of-mouth isn’t going to be strong moving forward.

READ MORE: ‘White Boy Rick’ Can’t Quite Connect The Dots [Telluride Review]

At this point, it seems as if McConaughey’s awards season bid is going to come up short and be overshadowed by the rest of the high-profile contenders hitting theaters in the coming weeks, such as “First Man” and “A Star is Born.”

The only other debut this weekend is the sequel to Angelina Jolie’sUnbroken,” titled “Unbroken: Path to Redemption,” which decided to take a decidedly faith-based approach. As we discussed last weekend, the film debuted low, with $2.35 million at #9. That’s two weeks in a row where a faith-based film failed at the box office, proving that for these films to do well, there needs to be strong buzz and/or a religious holiday to promote around.

As for the smaller films doing big per-theater-averages, “Museo” debuted in one theater with a total of $17,500, easily winning the crown. The Gael Garcia Bernal film is expanding a bit more over the coming weeks.

READ MORE: ‘Museo’ Trailer: Gael García Bernal Robs A Museum And All Hell Breaks Loose

Next weekend should be interesting. Michael Moore’s Trump take-down “Fahrenheit 11/9,” Jack Black/Cate Blanchett’s family film “The House with a Clock in its Walls” and “Life Itself,” from the creator of “This is Us,” all debut.

Here’s the full top 10 for September 14 to 16:

1. The Predator — $24M (Debut)
2. The Nun — $18.2M ($85M Overall)
3. A Simple Favor — $16M (Debut)
4. White Boy Rick — $8.8M (Debut)
5. Crazy Rich Asians — $8.7M ($149.5M)
6. Peppermint — $6M ($24M)
7. The Meg — $3.8M ($137M)
8. Searching — $3.2M ($19.6M)
9. Unbroken: Path to Redemption — $2.35M (Debut)
10. Mission: Impossible — Fallout — $2.32M ($216M)