Sony/Columbia’s “Karate Kid: Legends” won’t knock “Lilo & Stitch” off the top spot this weekend, but it could be a modest mid-budget success that helps keep the box office riding high heading into June.
Starring Jackie Chan and franchise forefather Ralph Macchio alongside “American Born Chinese” star Ben Wang, “Karate Kid: Legends” is a direct sequel to the 2010 “Karate Kid” revival starring Chan and Jaden Smith, with the addition of Macchio tying that film into the franchise’s main continuity which began in 1984 and most recently continued with the hit Netflix series “Cobra Kai.” That show concluded this past February after six seasons.
While standing as a franchise film, “Legends” was produced on a reported $45 million budget, making current projections for a $25-30 million opening weekend a solid start even if it would be roughly half of the $55.7 million opening of the 2010 film. Sony is projecting an opening on the lower range at $25 million, noting that the presales for the film are consistent with “The Garfield Movie,” which earned a $24 million 3-day launch during Memorial Day weekend last year.
In that range, “Legends” would be contending for the No.2 spot this weekend with “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” which is looking at a $28-32 million second weekend, with “Lilo & Stitch” projected for a $60-65 million second weekend.
But “Legends” won’t have the advantage of positive reviews from critics to help attract casual moviegoers, as early reception has been mixed with a 56% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Positive reviews have heaped praise on Ben Wang’s performance alongside Chan and Macchio, while negative reviews have unfavorably compared the film’s plot to “Cobra Kai.”
Assuredly, the opening weekend audience of this film will be longtime “Karate Kid” fans, whether they are Gen Xers who saw the original series back in the 80s or younger audiences introduced to the series through “Cobra Kai.”
The question will be whether “Legends” give those fans what they want. Like any “Karate Kid” film, the core theme of standing up to bullies through courage and discipline rather than vengeful rage lies at its core. But will Wang charm fans as much as the teenage protagonists of “Cobra Kai” did, and will the combination of Chan and Macchio make up for the absence of William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence, whose transformation from villainous bully to redeemed but rough-edged hero gave “Cobra Kai” its longevity?
Elsewhere, A24 will release “Bring Her Back,” the latest horror film from “Talk to Me” duo Danny and Michael Philippou. It stars Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins as a grief-stricken and insidious foster mother to a pair of children who become tools in her plan to bring back her dead child.
The film, which critics have praised as a terrifying and inescapably bleak plunge into darkness, is projected for a $5-7 million opening weekend. By comparison, “Talk to Me” opened to $10.4 from 2,340 theaters, going on to gross $48.2 million million domestic and $91.9 million worldwide and pass “Hereditary” as A24’s highest grossing horror film ever.
