Initially slated for a March 2nd, 2018 release, before the due date was pulled forward to February 9th, which was pushed back to August 3rd, and then subsequently moved once more, Shane Black’s The Predator will finally have its world premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, before opening stateside on September 14th. According to Variety, however, the nearly decade-long wait for the extraterrestrial killing machine to get another shot at a proper sequel will not be one for the record book.
Early tracking has The Predator earning somewhere between $25 million to $30 million on opening weekend, which should be good enough for the hotly anticipated reboot to fight off weak competition in the form of Lionsgate’s A Simple Favor and Sony’s White Boy Rick. That said, 20th Century Fox will have some work to do as WB’s The Nun is expected to have a strong second week showing after a $32 million – $40 million debut.
Regardless of where it’ll land, the studio cannot be too pleased with this projection. After all, even at the high end of the estimate ($30M), The Predator has no hope of trouncing the $39 million grossed by Alien Vs. Predator in 2004 – which, by the way, is the largest opening weekend haul in the history of the franchise.
Truthfully speaking, it shouldn’t be all that surprising that The Predator is having a difficult go of it early on. I mean, taking into consideration the extensive reshoot schedule it underwent earlier in the year, the release date shifting, and panning of practically every sequel since the initial installment, it’s easy to see why the fanbase is wary of the reboot. Nevertheless, a strong showing at TIFF next month should hopefully boost morale a bit.
