Sony’s Karate Kid: Legends could be in for the fight of its life at the box office this weekend as Disney’s Lilo & Stitch threatens to steal its thunder. The latest chapter of the Karate Kid saga, Karate Kid: Legends, grossed $2.5M from Thursday previews from shows beginning at 2 p.m. Analysts expect Legends to kick its way to $25M-$30M against the continued success of Disney’s Lilo & Stitch. Disney’s live-action animated hybrid could scrabble to an additional $60M this weekend if the mouse-eared studio’s chaotic blue alien remains strong. Meanwhile, Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning could run out the clock with $32M (or less) in its second weekend in theaters.
Elsewhere, A24’s Bring Her Back from Talk to Me directors Danny and Michael Philippou banked $850K in previews at 2,409 theaters, with screenings starting at 4 p.m. on Thursday. Interestingly, Bring Her Back is garnering more positive buzz from female audiences, 83% (women) to 77% (men). Our Editor-in-Chief, Chris Bumbray, highly recommends seeing Bring Her Back on the big screen, saying it’s likely to go down as one of the year’s best horror films. Check out Chris’ complete review of Bring Her Back here. Analysts expect Bring Her Back to earn $5M-$7M in its opening weekend, a slight step down from Talk to Me‘s $10.4M debut.
Other films rounding out the top 5 likely include Final Destination: Bloodlines, with a second-week total of $100.9M. Bloodlines is a hit with fans of the Final Destination franchise and is said to be one of the best sequels in the series. In fourth place is Marvel’s Thunderbolts* with a $177M total in its fourth week. The ensemble superhero movie is one of Marvel’s best-reviewed films in a while, based on public opinion and critic scores. Disney recently brought Captain America: Brave New World to Disney+, giving fans plenty of ways to get their fix. Finally, Sinners is still draining wallets at the box office with $261.8M in its sixth week. Sinners comes to digital platforms on June 3, so check it out in theaters while you can.
