Friday Estimates: In a Surprise Twist, Split’s a Hit with $14.6 million

January 21, 2017

Split

Split easily won on Friday, doubling its nearest competition, and earning $14.6 million. This is the best opening day for M. Night Shyamalan since The Last Airbender opened in 2010. Its reviews are 76% positive, and it earned a B+ from CinemaScore, which is good for a horror film. This puts it on pace for an opening weekend of $34 million, which is more than it cost to make and advertise. If the film can match this during the rest of its run, then it will break even on its domestic numbers alone.

On the other hand, xXx: Return of Xander Cage is looking like a bomb, as the film only managed $7 million last night. This puts it on pace for a $19 million opening weekend, which wouldn’t be bad for a January release, but it is terrible for a film that cost $85 million to make. On the positive side, its CinemaScore is an A-, which is a lot better than its 42% positive reviews. It should be a lot bigger hit internationally, but likely not enough to break even. This is really bad news for the studio, as Paramount has already released three films that will lose money this year: Return of Xander Cage, Monster Trucks, and Silence. 2016 was a really bad year for Paramount, but it doesn’t appear that 2017 is getting off to a better start.

Hidden Figures is the only other film on track to earn more than $10 million over the weekend. It pulled in $4.43 million on Friday for a weekend haul of just over $15 million.

The rest of the “new” films ranged from disappointing to embarrassing. The Founder earned just $1.01 million on Friday. It won’t miss the Mendoza Line over the weekend, but it will be rather close. 20th Century Women won’t be as lucky with approximately $400,000 on 650 screens on Friday and likely just over $1 million over the full weekend. Finally, The Resurrection of Gavin Stone might not hit $1 million during its full weekend.

- Friday Box Office Chart

- xXx: Return of Xander Cage Comparisons
- Split Comparisons

Filed under: Friday Estimates, Silence, xXx: Return of Xander Cage, Monster Trucks, The Founder, 20th Century Women, Split, Hidden Figures, The Resurrection of Gavin Stone, M. Night Shyamalan