7:47 AM PDT 3/16/2018
by
Pamela McClintock
Faith-based film ‘I Can Only Imagine’ surprises with $1.1M in Thursday evening previews, while ‘Love, Simon’ takes in $850,000.
Alicia Vikander’s Tomb Raider unearthed $2.1 million in Thursday night previews as the female-led action-adventure landed at the North American box office.
That was ahead of recent YA film adaptation Maze Runner: The Death Cure, which grossed $1.5 million in previews on its way to a $24.5 million three-day debut in January.
The big question is whether the reboot of the film series that originally starred Angelina Jolie can wrest the weekend crown from ruling champ Black Panther.
Tracking suggests Tomb Raider, from Warner Bros. and MGM, will earn $23 million-$25 million in its launch. The $90 million film is getting a berth in 3,854 theaters.
An adaptation of the videogame, Tomb Raider hopes to restart the film series about an adventurous archeologist and action hero. This time out, Lara Croft (Vikander) embarks on a dangerous journey to solve the mystery of her father’s disappearance. Norwegian filmmaker Roar Uthaug (The Wave) directed the $90 million film, which co-stars Dominic West, Walton Goggins, Daniel Wu and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Among other new offerings, Fox’s YA adaptation Love, Simon — the first film from a major Hollywood studio featuring a gay teen protagonist — earned $850,000 million in previews for a projected $10 million-$12 million opening from 2,402 theaters.
Greg Berlanti directed the Fox 2000 dramedy, which stars Nick Robinson as Simon Spier, a closeted high schooler who tries to find out the identity of an anonymous classmate he’s fallen in love with online. Love, Simon cost $17 million to produce.
The top theaters Thursday night included cinemas in Dallas, Orlando and Boston, alongside such locales as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, showing the breadth of the appeal of the film, according to Fox insiders.
Getting an early jump on Easter, Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate are opening the faith-based film I Can Only Imagine in 1,628 cinemas. The film impressed Thursday night with $1.1 million in previews for a projected $5 million-$7 million debut (based on the preview gross, it could climb higher). Earlier in the week, I Can Only Imagine scored $200,000 in paid private group screenings, bringing the total preview gross to $1.3 million.
The $7 million film stars J. Michael Finley as Bart Millard, the lead singer of the Christian band MercyMe, who wrote “I Can Only Imagine,” considered to be the most popular song in Christian music history. Dennis Quaid and Cloris Leachman also star in the film, which cost $7 million to make.
March 16, 8 a.m. Updated with grosses for I Can Only Imagine.
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