Screen Gems and Stage 6 Films’ horror movie “Don’t Breathe” scared up $1.88 million in its Thursday previews.
Poised to dethrone the anti-hero action film “Suicide Squad,” “Don’t Breathe” is tracking at roughly $13 million for its opening weekend. Sony, the film’s distributor, is estimating around $11 million to $12 million for the film.
“Don’t Breathe,” produced by horror guru Sam Raimi and directed and co-written by Fede Alvarez, stars Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto and Stephen Lang in a story about a group of friends who are proven terribly wrong when they assume that a wealthy blind man will be an easy mark for a robbery.
“Don’t Breathe” was produced for under $10 million and currently has a score of 89 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
“Suicide Squad” — starring Will Smith, Margot Robbie and Jared Leto — is looking to make less than $10 million in its fourth weekend, leaving room for the horror flick to come out on top.
Horror movies have had a really strong summer at the box office and continue to be among the most profitable genres in Hollywood. For example, James Wan‘s “Conjuring 2” coughed up $319 million, based on a $40 million budget. Last month’s “Lights Out” raked in $111 million, when its budget was only $4.9 million.
This weekend’s other newcomers, “Mechanic: Resurrection” and “Hands of Stone,” are both expected to come in under $10 million.
“Hands of Stone” stars Robert De Niro as legendary trainer Ray Arcel and Edgar Ramírez as famed boxer Roberto Duran. The drama, based on true events, isn’t faring so well among critics and has a low 45 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes. But that could easily change as more reviews stream in.
R-rated action sequel “Mechanic: Resurrection” has Jason Statham reprising his role as reformed hitman Arthur Bishop, who is forced to reignite his killing skills in order to save the woman he loves from kidnappers. Its Rotten Tomatoes score is 40 percent.