Clint Eastwood Easily Beats “Tammy Faye” and “Cop Shop” at Friday Box Office

In the box office news that doesn’t concern Shang-Chi, Clint Eastwood crying macho opened with around $ 1.59 million on Friday, paving the way for a domestic debut of $ 4.54 million. This is obviously well below the norm for films starring Clint Eastwood, although it is not that far from Richard jewell (which he directed but in which he did not star), which opened with $ 4.7 million in December 2019. Films starring Clint Eastwood (whether directing them or not) have tendency to (with the exception of star-related exceptions such as Defile and American sniper) perform better than those he just leads. that of Robert Lorenz Problems with the curve opened with $ 12.5 million in 2012 while Eastwood’s The mule opened with $ 17.5 million in 2018.

The movie, which of course debuted simultaneously on HBO Max, was never going to bust as there is little action and no prominent co-stars (Difficulty also played Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake). It’s always a bummer, with or without the Covid curve, but at some point, the marketing appeal of “See Clint Eastwood onscreen… one last time” would wear off. I’m old enough to remember when Gran Torino was their swansong in late 2008 / early 2009. That said, in a normal theatrical year, this damn good comedy-drama would be a WB ‘for the love of the game’ release with a screen icon who worked with them during the most of his career since (at least) Dirty Harry in 1971.

As always, hopefully the movie (which is obviously showing to older audiences) gets on indexed on HBO Max, but that’s a conversation for Monday afternoon. Open Road opened Joe Carnahan’s Cop shop in 3,005 theaters this weekend, with admittedly mediocre results. Despite the Covid curve, the (surprisingly well-reviewed) action thriller Gerard Butler / Frank Grillo / Alexis Louder made $ 950,000 on Friday for a likely $ 2.475 million first weekend. That’s obviously not good, and maybe in normal times the grindhouse movie could have opened up a bit better (Butler is usually a B-movie action star when the movie is cheap enough to debuting at $ 15 million), but the film is arguably the victim of a new post-pandemic divide between the haves and have-nots.

Searchlight Pictures unofficially kicked off Oscar season yesterday with Tammy Faye’s eyes. Michael Showalter’s biopic drama, detailing the rise and fall of infamous televangelists Jim Baker (Andrew Garfield) and Tammy Faye (Jessica Chastain), made just $ 250,000 in 450 theaters. That positions the film for a $ 630,000 opening weekend, which could spell the end of the film’s (or even Chastain’s) Oscar prospects. That said, even more in the midst of Covid, it was still doomed to be blogged more than actually seen. Unless Dear Evan Hanson (which I seem to like more than most critics) outperforms next weekend, the first potentially commercial “Oscar movie” will be Ridley Scott’s The last duel. This medieval melodrama by Jodie Comer / Matt Damon / Adam Driver / Ben Affleck opens courtesy of 20th Century Studios on October 15.

In the news, free guy earned an additional $ 1.333 million (-11%) to bring revenue to $ 104.7 million. Ryan Reynolds / Jodie Comer’s comedic fantasy is expected to earn around $ 5 million (-10%) on Weekend Six for a cumulative $ 108.4 million over 38 days. His continued strength amidst the competition and a shortened theatrical window will determine whether he ends with $ 115 million or $ 120 million. Universal fellow surpassed $ 50 million yesterday when it debuted on PVOD. Nia DaCosta’s horror sequel earned $ 1 million (-29%) on Friday for a probable fourth weekend of $ 3.47 million (-27%) and $ 53.138 million in total over 24 days. Is that good enough for a beloved R-rated $ 25 million horror flick? Sure. Is it less than everyone hoped and is that probably one of the reasons Universal gave Halloween kills a day and date release of Peacock? Yes too.

Alas, Warner Bros. and New Line’s Smart earned $ 810,000 (-60%) on Friday for a probable weekend of $ 2.5 million (-54%) and $ 9.62 million cumulative over ten days. If the revenue was bigger, I would be able to defend a 54% drop for an R-rated horror film. Of course, the James Wan-directed gem is a cult classic in the making, but I’m crying about what the next phase of horror might have looked like had this one erupted at least at the level of Seen Where Insidious. To concentrate’ The card counter naturally fell 67% for a Friday of $ 140,000. Paul Schrader’s fairly solid film on “slow cinema” is arguably a “fan-only” offering, and as such, its $ 440,000 weekend (-58%) and cumulative $ 1.914 million. ten-day dollars are no surprise.