New Line Cinema’s “Game Night” scored $1 million in Thursday previews last night, while Paramount’s “Annihilation” earned $900,000. Marvel’s “Black Panther” grossed $14.3 million on Thursday, giving it the best Thursday ever for a MCU title.
“Game Night” is led by Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, and Kyle Chandler, and follows a group of friends who get together for their weekly game night only to end up caught in an actual murder plot. John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein directed from a script by Mark Perez.
Bateman’s film “Horrible Bosses 2” also earned $1 million in previews before it grossed $15.4 million its opening weekend. “Game Night” is looking at an opening of $17 million, with Warner Bros. projecting a $12-14 million start. Another good comparison is “Office Christmas Party,” which earned $950,000 in December 2016 and grossed $16.9 million its opening weekend.
“Annihilation,” which stars Natalie Portman and Jennifer Jason Leigh and is written and directed by “Ex Machina” director Alex Garland, also opens this weekend. Based on the best-selling 2014 novel by Jeff VanderMeer, the film is tracking for a $10 million opening from 2,000 locations.
Garland’s film is being well-received — the film holds a “fresh” rating of 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. “Game Night” is currently also rated “fresh” with 83 percent.
Also coming out in targeted release is Orion’s romance film “Every Day,” which stars Angourie Rice as a woman who falls in love with a mysterious being called A who inhabits a different body every day. The film will be released on 1,625 screens and is looking at an opening of $2-5 million.
“Every Day” holds a score of 53 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
The big question this weekend will be how Marvel’s “Black Panther” will hold up in its second weekend after having a stellar opening of $201 million. It is expected to have a second frame of more than $100 million, likely pushing it past the domestic runs of all of Marvel Studios’ 2017 releases and last year’s highest grossing superhero release, “Wonder Woman.”
The cumulative for “Black Panther” is now $292 million — the 4th biggest first seven days of all time, as well as top MCU first week, beating “The Avengers” ($270 million).