It looks like it’s going to be ladies night when Hustlers opens on September 13. The film has entered box office tracking and it’s poised for a pretty stellar debut.
The STK Entertainment release, starring Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu, Lili Reinhart, Keke Palmer, Cardi B, Julia Stiles & Lizzo, is tracking for a strong $24 million debut. Based on Jessica Pressler’s New York magazine story “The Hustlers at Scores”, the film follows a crew of strip-club employees hoping to get back at the affluent Wall Street clients who have wronged them.
The big debut would be a much-needed win for STK Entertainment which has seen some losses due to box office failures such as Uglydolls. The studio has also pushed back several releases including 21 Bridges and Playmobil: The Movie but this has only made Hustlers a priority and they’re putting a lot of marketing muscle behind it.
The film has a modest $20 million budget so it could be on its way to being a moderate hit and STK must be confident in it because it will be making its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The studio also points out that unaided awareness for the film matches the likes of Bohemian Rhapsody and A Star Is Born.
As of now, Bad Moms is the highest opening for STK Entertainment with $23.8 million. That film went on to have crazy good legs when it was released, grossing over $100 million and it sported a similar marketing ploy of getting women out to the theater to catch it for ladies night viewings.
Hustlers opens the same day as potential Oscar contender, The Goldfinch, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about a young man (Ansel Elgort) whose troubled childhood leads him to become an art forger. The film, also starring Nicole Kidman, Luke Wilson & Jeffrey Wright, enters tracking in the $15-17 million range.
