Gru and company continued their reign at the box office with newcomers “Longlegs” and “Fly Me to the Moon.”
Universal and Illumination’s “Despicable Me 4” will maintain the No. 1 spot in its second weekend of release after earning $13.6 million on Friday.
“Longlegs” is still creeping toward the best opening weekend for Neon after scoring $10 million from 2,510 theaters on Friday — a figure that includes $3 million in Thursday previews. The indie scarer, starring Nicolas Cage as a terrifying serial killer and scream queen Maika Monroe as an FBI agent, is eyeing an opening weekend of $20 to $23 million.
Despite receiving a “C+” grade on CinemaScore, which is pretty standard for horror films, director Osgood Perkins’ horror film received mostly positive reviews from critics (it currently has an 87% rating on Rotten Tomatoes).
Variety chief film critic Peter DeBruge wrote in his review of ‘Longlegs’: ‘Perkins understands that jump scares are just one of the pleasures of a successful horror film (the same goes for shotgun figures creeping just out of focus into the background). Destabilizing audience expectations and easing tension with unforeseen bursts of absurdity are equally important – both tactics he employs with expert precision.”
Also opening this weekend is Apple’s “Fly Me to the Moon,” which lands in fifth place after earning $4.4 million from 3,356 locations on Friday, including $875,000 in previews. The Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson-led romantic comedy, which is distributed by Sony, is expected to make a $10 million weekend debut.
“A Quiet Place: Day One,” starring Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn, grossed $3.6 million on Friday. The prequel to Paramount’s post-apocalyptic horror series is expected to place fourth with $11.5 million in its third weekend of release.
More to come…
