‘The Predator’ Heads Toward $25 Million Debut In Solid Opening

Despite its controversial casting issues, which include actress Olivia Mann calling out a co-star for sexual harassment, 20th Century Fox appears to have a solid hit on their hands with The Predator.

According to Variety, the movie is hunting down quite a decent box office debut. Reports state the movie pulled in about $10 million for its debut on Friday and looks to do more than double those figures today and tomorrow. While it’s in the lower end of projections from Fox, it still remains within the frame of obtaining an overall successful theatrical tun.

It joins movies like Hereditary, Deadpool, and IT, as examples of recent movies carrying the often ill-advised R-rating, but still maintaining healthy box office figures.

Generally, movies carrying an R-rating by the Motion Picture Association of America have trouble finding a wide audience, with families not wanting to bring their small children to films containing potentially suggestive subject matter. While having an R-rating does still hinder total box office performance, it’s becoming clear that properly marketed films carrying ratings for mature audiences can still be heavy hitters in the theatrical world. Such performances are likely to secure bigger budgets from movie studios for movies with a stronger subject matter, mature images, and adult language.

While the box office is telling a successful story for The Predator, critical reviews are not painting quite the same picture. According to critical review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes, the movie only stands at 34 percent. Movie critics are generally reviewing the film negatively.

In terms of fan response, The Predator isn’t fairing much better. It currently sits at an audience score of only 51 percent. While those scores may fluctuate some as more reviews come in, it’s unlikely the movie will make a significant turn, as most of the reviews for the movie are already in.

While the box office totals fair well for a potential sequel being greenlit, it could also spell disaster for its home video and streaming numbers. It could also prevent any potential sequels from receiving as good of box office numbers from weary movie-goers not wanting to sit through another disappointing movie within the franchise.

The Predator franchise came to prominence in the 1980s when Arnold Schwarzenegger starred alongside Jesse Ventura in the movie Predator. That film spawned a sequel, Predator 2, as well as a spinoff and crossover with the Alien franchise, entitled Alien Vs. Predator.

Since then, two other Predator films were released prior to the current 2018 movie and box office hit from 20th Century Fox.