Predator: Badlands

Source: 20th Century Studios

‘Predator: Badlands’

Disney has crossed $4bn worldwide box office for the fourth consecutive year thanks to a franchise-high estimated $40m number one debut for Predator: Badlands in North America that banished memories of the lowest-grossing October in 27 years.

In a weekend that saw the arrival of several awards contenders, Joachim Trier’s Cannes grand prix-winning drama Sentimental Value was the pick of the bunch. It debuted at number 18 through Neon on $200,000 from four screens for a $50,000 per-screen average that was one of the year’s best. Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and Elle Fanning star.

Four new features broke into the top 10 in their opening weekend, including Lynne Ramsay’s Cannes Competition entry and awards season hopeful Die, My Love. Jennifer Lawrence stars as a troubled new mother opposite Robert Pattinson, and the psychological drama ranked eighth on $2.8m from 1,938 locations.

Predator: Badlands opened in 3,725 locations. The 20th Century Studios sci-fi directed by Dan Trachtenberg and starring Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi earned an A- CinemaScore and 4.5 out of five stars from general audience PostTrak polling.

The previous highest-grossing entry in the 38-year franchise was Aliens vs. Predator in 2004 on an unadjusted $38.3m. Predator: Badlands fuelled a $38.1m weekend, and the $7.2bn year-to-date North American box office is tracking 3% ahead of 2024 by the same stage.

Amazon MGM Studios’ new release of Sarah’s Oil, the true story of Sarah Rector who became an oil baron in Oklahoma as a child, opened in fourth place on $4.5m from 2,410 and stars Naya Desir-Johnson. Sony Pictures Classics opened James Vanderbilt’s historical drama Nuremberg starring Russell Crowe and Rami Malek in fifth on $4.1m from 1,802, marking a solid start for a drama that earned mixed reviews.

Die, My Love distributor reportedly paid $24m for North American and select territories on the Cannes Competition entry, which earned generally positive reviews but a D+ Cinemascore from audiences.  That said, the opening weekend delivered the best in Ramsay’s career.

Christy, the biopic about female boxer Christy Martin starring Sydney Sweeney, opened in eleventh place and marked the first US release from Black Bear, which produced and financed the film. David Michôd directed a cast that includes Ben Foster and the feature earned $1.3m from 2,011 sites.

In its second weekend, Yorgos Lanthimos’s sci-fi drama Bugonia starring Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone ranked seventh after adding $3.5m for a $12.3m running total.

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