Box Office: ‘Civil War’ Second Weekend Leading ‘Abigail’ and ‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’ in Tight Race
21.04.2024 - 06:59
/ variety.com
J. Kim Murphy It’s a close contest at the domestic box office, with the opening day gross of Universal’s ballerina vampire film “Abigail” leading Lionsgate’s fellow new release “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” and the second frame of A24’s dystopian thriller “Civil War.” “Abigail” earned $4 million from 3,384 theaters across its opening day and preview screenings, making it the top performer of the weekend so far.
But, after factoring out the $1 million that the horror film earned from screenings before Friday, it comes up behind A24’s “Civil War,” which was actually the top grosser for April 19, taking in roughly $3.3 million. Meanwhile, Lionsgate’s “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” fired off about $3.7 million from 2,845 locations — a figure that includes $1.45 million across earlier preview screenings.
All three films are eyeing weekend grosses in the low-teens or high-single-digits. For “Abigail,” that’d come up a bit short of industry projections, which floated an opening in the $12 million to $15 million range.
The original R-rated vampire movie is the first at Universal for directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet, the filmmaking team known as Radio Silence that revived the “Scream” franchise with its recent fifth and sixth entries. “Abigail” carries a fairly modest, though not insubstantial, production budget of $28 million, so the film will hope to have some staying power in the weeks ahead.
Reviews have been positive, while early ticketbuyers are more mixed (typical for horror), as indicated by the B grade determined by audience survey firm Cinema Score. Melissa Barrera reunites with Radio Silence to lead “Abigail,” starring alongside a cast that includes Dan Stevens, Will Catlett, Kathryn
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