Thursday Night Previews: Atomic Nukes the Competition with $1.52 million

July 28, 2017

Atomic Blonde

Atomic Blonde easily topped The Emoji Movie during previews, earning $1.52 million. However, had the action flick not topped the family film, it would have been a disaster. Compared to other recent action films, Atomic Blonde underperformed Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets ($1.7 million) and Baby Driver ($2.1 million), but at least it topped King Arthur: Legend of the Sword ($1.15 million). This summer, the average action film has opened with just over 10 times what it made during its previews, which is bad news for Atomic Blonde, as it puts the film’s opening weekend at $15 million to $16 million. Its reviews are good, but not great enough to really change this trend. Even $20 million would be a boon after this start.

The Emoji Movie only managed $900,000 during previews. This is less than a third of what Cars 3 managed ($2.8 million) and less than a quarter of what Despicable Me 3 brought in ($4.1 million). If we use those two movies as guides, then The Emoji Movie is on pace for about $16 million to $17 million. On the other hand, it did earn more than Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie ($650,000) and if this film has the same legs as Captain Underpants, then it would earn $33 million. I think the lower end is more likely. Granted, The Emoji Movie so it should have better legs than Cars 3 or Despicable Me 3, but it is also earning zero positive reviews. There are 28 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and not one of them is positive. Not only that, but the average score is 2 out of 10, so the reviews are aggressively negative. $20 million is the film’s new target.

This does mean Dunkirk should have no trouble repeating on top of the chart. In fact, because the competition is so weak, it should top our original $25 million prediction.

- Atomic Blonde Comparisons
- The Emoji Movie Comparisons

Filed under: Midnight Previews, Baby Driver, Despicable Me 3, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Dunkirk, Cars 3, Atomic Blonde, The Emoji Movie