Zendaya Earns Biggest Live-Action Original Film Debut With ‘Challengers’

Zendaya scored big at the box office with Challengers.

The sports-centric film starring the 27-year-old opened earning $15 million this weekend, the biggest opening ever for Oscar-nominated filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, per Deadline. For the leading lady, the movie stands as her biggest debut for a live-action, original, non-IP movie.

Previously, Guadagnino’s widest release was 2022’s Bones and All starring Timothée Chalamet, which earned $2.2M over 3-days, $3.6M over 5-days, and ultimately landed at $7.8M. Not counting animated projects or the Spider-Man and Dune franchises, Challengers surpassed 2017’s The Greatest Showman as Zendaya’s highest-grossing opening weekend.

The platform reports the Challengers audience as 58% women, with a huge 18-34 turnout at 76%. Breaking down the demographics by race, moviegoers were 43% Caucasian, 27% Latino and Hispanic, 17% Black, 9% Asian, and 4% other.

“I just like to do things that stretch and push me. There’s a big sense of fear, like, ‘Can I do this?’ I would love to be a director one day. I talk to directors, like ‘How do you know you’re ready?’ They’re like, ‘You never know. You just do it,'” detailed Zendaya to Variety of stepping into the mature role of Tashi.

“Jump in the deep end and hopefully do it with people whose work you admire, and then you can trust in their work and make something really beautiful.”

She continued to explain, “I’ve been playing 16-year-olds since I was 16. So it was nice to play a character that was not a child anymore. It was also interesting playing parts of my life that I haven’t experienced yet: I’ve not gotten married. I’ve not had a child. Those milestones, I don’t necessarily have a direct reference point in my own life for. That was different to feel. Ultimately, it felt like the right time for a character like this.”

Alongside the Euphoria star, Challengers also stars Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor. Watch the trailer below.

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