Box Office: ‘Predator’ Barely Makes Estimates, ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Gets Richer

Another action-packed re-boot of The Predator series eked out a disappointing $26 million in its domestic debut, earnings which are at the lower end of its projected take. Meanwhile, Crazy Rich Asians is still going gonzo earning another near $9 million this weekend bringing its total to an amazing $140 million in the U.S. market and $31 million in foreign markets.

Studio bosses hoped that Predator would top the $30 million mark for the sixth installment of the alien invasion franchise launched with an Arnold Schwarzenegger actioner in 1987.

While the film earned enough to hit the lower end of its estimated box office take, the numbers did not come any where near earning back its $88 million production costs. Indeed, according to Box Office Mojo, the film’s debut was the worst performance for a film opening in over 4,000 theaters since 2017’s The Mummy (which never did earn back its $128 million budget).

The Shane Black-directed reboot was riddled with scandal after Black cast his friend and convicted sexual predator Steven Wilder Striegel, who pursed his 14-year-old female family member. Predator star Olivia Munn exposed Striegel’s casting. He was cut from the film. Black apologized.

Warner Brothers’ fright pic The Nun came in for number two in its second weekend, taking in $18.2 million domestically. This brings the film’s total haul to $85 million. The thriller, A Simple Favor, starring Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick, hit the third place post earning $16 million for its opening weekend. In fourth place, the Matthew McConaughey drama, White Boy Rick earned almost $9 million, just under a third of its $29 million budget.

The most amazing numbers, though, still belong to Crazy Rich Asians and the outrageous shark actioner, The Meg, both of which are still reeling in the riches at the nation’s theaters.

Crazy Rich Asians is still hanging in with the top five movies hitting fifth place this weekend and earning another $8.7 million. That brings the Asians total to over $187 million domestically and a global tally of a whopping $505 million bucks!
Meanwhile, the Jason Stratham-starring vehicle, The Meg, remained in the top ten this weekend taking another $3.8 million bite out of Americans’ wallets. The crazy shark film has earned $137 million in the U.S. — easily topping its $130 million budget. — and has earned $368.2 million globally.

Finally, Tom Cruise is still barreling along with Mission Impossible: Fallout and a respectable $2.3 million this weekend after a month and a half at the theaters bringing, its total to $216 million, which easily earned back its $178 million budget. Not bad for the 56-year-old action star.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.