Tom Cruise will be no match for Wonder Woman this weekend as she looks to dominate the box office for the second weekend in a row.
Lets take a look at The Mummy, which is the first in a planned series of films in the “Dark Universe” that Universal Pictures has touted as its extended universe of revamped and rebooted takes on their classic movie monsters. It’s a good idea in theory but reviews for The Mummy came pouring in today and the critics aren’t being too kind to the film. Is this how you begin a planned universe of interconnecting films?
Alex Kurtzman directed The Mummy, a revival of the franchise spawned by Universal’s 1932 original and re-popularized by Stephen Sommers’ 1999 fright-fest starring Brendan Fraser, and the three other Mummy films that followed. In the 2017 update, Cruise plays a freelance treasure hunter who resurrects a princess (Sofia Boutella). Annabelle Wallis, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance, and Russell Crowe are also among the cast.
The film has a reported $125 million budget which isn’t earth shattering when compared to other summer movies but I have a feeling the film will either match that number or even full a bit short of it stateside. That means The Mummy, like other big budget extravaganzas, has to rely on overseas grosses to see a profit. Reportedly Universal Pictures is fully aware that this will be more of a draw overseas, especially since Tom Cruise is still a huge name in foreign markets, but I’m thinking that this will be more of a stumble out of the gate rather than a triumph for the Dark Universe. I’m predicting about $35 million and a second place finish behind Wonder Woman.
Speaking of Wonder Woman, the film has seen solid weekday numbers and word of mouth should continue to be strong as we head into weekend two. The film has really been a breath of fresh air, not only for comic book films, but for the current summer movie season which has seen some hits but a lot of underachievers. I’m thinking the film will see about $60 million this weekend.
Also worthy of a mention is It Comes At Night which is riding high on solid reviews (currently 84% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). The new A24 film tells the story of two families riddled by paranoia and distrust and threatened by a mysterious outside force. It features Joel Edgerton, Christopher Abbott, Carmen Ejogo, Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Riley Keough among its cast and Edgerton might provide the perfect example for where this film could be headed. In 2015 Joel Edgerton starred in and directed, The Gift, which was released in August and also came in strong with solid reviews. The psychological thriller opened to $11.8 million and had fairly steady legs as word of mouth proved to be strong. I think it’s possible for It Comes At Night to follow suit and I’m predicting an opening in the $10-12 million range.
Check back here on Monday for the final box office results!
