The long-awaited sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation earned an impressive $2.2 million at Wednesday evening and midnight screenings.
Although initial reviews for the film haven’t been the strongest, that apparently didn’t matter much to the people who showed up to see the flick when it opened in select theaters yesterday evening. Analyst believe the sequel is on-track for a very strong weekend.
“A little more than we expected. And tracking finished up great,” a Paramount executive explained to Deadline . “Maybe we do have a shot at $50M in the US.”
Analysts predict that G.I. Joe: Retalation will earn between $40 million and $45 million when the extended four-day weekend wraps up. This is slightly lower than the figure the studio is currently tossing around.
Paramount’s action flick is expected to bring in quite a bit of cash in the foreign market as well. The movie should bring in around $50 million dollars over the weekend . This could put the movie’s international total at around $100 million.
Director Jon Chu’s G.I. Joe Retaliation is the $150 million sequel to Stephen Sommer’s 2009 offering G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra . The film was originally scheduled for release last year. However, Paramount decided it need to retool to flick at the last minute.
In addition to converting the sequel to 3D, the studio went back and shot additional scenes with co-star Channing Tatum . Since test audiences seemed to enjoy his character the most, Paramount went back and added more Tatum to the movie.
The White House Down star isn’t the only actor returning for another go-around. Also on-board for the sequel are Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce, Byung-hun Lee, and Arnold Vosloo. New to franchise are Bruce Willis, Dwayne Johnson, Ray Stevenson and D.J. Cotrona.
Also opening this weekend is director Andrew Niccol’s adaptation of the Stephenie Meyer novel The Host . Tyler Perry?s Temptation is also slated to arrive over the Easter holiday. Both movies hit theaters on March 29.
Jon Cu’s G.I. Joe: Retalation is playing across the US right now. Paramount is counting on moviegoers showing up this weekend. Are you planning to catch the sequel in theaters?