Yesterday we posted the positive news that the reboot of The Grudge earned $1.8 million in Thursday night previews which is pretty good for a random night at the start of January. During that praise, I also said that the exit polling for the film was extremely poor on PostTrak and now the CinemaScore has hit and let’s just say that The Grudge flunked with moviegoers.
The Grudge earned a very rare “F” CinemaScore from opening night audiences. Only 20 or so movies have ever received the failing grade; the last was Darren Aronofsky’s Mother in 2017. The film was tracking to open around $13 million this weekend but given how fast poor word of mouth can travel, the opening may come in a bit lower than that. The upside is that The Grudge carries a production budget of $10 million so Sony Screen Gems may get some pocket change from the project but not much more.
The Grudge opened to $5.4 million on Friday, including $1.8 million in Thursday previews. That’s a respectable start but it’s going to bleed off some of that opening number on Saturday and Sunday business is really going to crater. The opening for the latest reboot will be a far cry from what the first 2004 reboot opened to when it became a surprise hit opening to $39.1 million on its way to $110.3 million at the domestic box office.
