“The Divergent Series: Allegiant” stormed to $2.35 million at 2,800 North American locations on Thursday night, making it the second-highest Thursday preview gross of the year.
Ryan Reynolds‘ “Deadpool,” soared to a record-breaking $12.7 million at Thursday previews in February. However, “Allegiant’s” gross also marks the lowest preview number for the “Divergent” franchise: The first film opened to $4.9 million in 2014, while “Insurgent” earned $4.1 million last year.
“Allegiant” is tracking for an opening weekend of $30 million to $40 million, well below what the previous films grossed, which was $54.6 million and $52.3 million, respectively.
“Allegiant” stars Shailene Woodley, Jeff Daniels, Octavia Spencer, Ray Stevenson, Zoe Kravitz, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort and Naomi Watts. Directed by Robert Schwentke, it is written by Noah Oppenheim, Adam Cooper, Bill Collage and Stephen Chbosky.
The film centers on a dystopian world where post-apocalyptic Chicago is split into five fractions. The fourth and final film, “Ascendant” will be released in the summer of 2017.
Although “Allegiant” is Friday’s only wide opener, Disney’s animated film “Zootopia” will battle the newcomer for first place. In its third weekend, “Zootopia” is looking to gross around $30 million.
Columbia Pictures’ “Miracles From Heaven” grossed another $1.66 million on Thursday night after earning $1.9 million on its opening day Wednesday.
The studio is still on track for an $8 million to $10 million weekend, with the film currently boasting a CinemaScore of A+.
Directed by Patricia Riggen, “Miracles From Heaven” stars Jennifer Garner and Queen Latifah and is based on a memoir of the same name by Christy Beam, whose daughter made a miraculous recovery from what was thought to be an incurable disease. The daughter is played by Kylie Rogers in the film.