Box Office: ‘Magnificent Seven’ Shoots For $34 Million, ‘Storks’ to Deliver $20 Million
“The Magnificent Seven” is targeting an opening weekend in the $32 – 34 million range at 3,096 locations, according to early Friday projections.
The film, from MGM and Columbia Pictures, is aiming for a $12 million Friday after rounding up $1.75 million in Thursday previews. Its biggest competition, Warner Bros. Animation’s “Storks,” looks to push out $5 million on Friday and $18 – 20 million this weekend.
A remake of a remake, “The Magnificent Seven” is an action film set in the Wild West, featuring an ensemble cast of bankable stars including Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt. Antoine Fuqua directs the movie, presented in association with LStar Capital and Village Roadshow Pictures. The film debuted on opening night of the Toronto Film Festival.
“Storks” opens in a year that has rewarded animated films including “Finding Dory,” “Zootopia” and “The Secret Life of Pets.” Andy Samberg voices the lead character Junior, who is the top delivery stork in his company. Katie Crown, Kelsey Grammer, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Jennifer Aniston, Ty Burrell and Danny Trejo round out the voice cast of the movie, directed by Nicholas Stoller and Doug Sweetland.
Both films look to take the wind out of Tom Hanks’ “Sully,” which has soared atop the box office for the past two frames. Last weekend saw the frightfully disappointing openings of “Blair Witch” and “Bridget Jones’s Baby,” both of which are sequels in, apparently, tired franchises.
This week also welcomes Amazon and Broad Green’s “The Dressmaker,” starring Kate Winslet in limited release. The film will open in nine major markets and 34 locations total.
Fandango reported Thursday that “The Magnificent Seven” is seeing the hottest advance ticket sales of Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington’s careers. At this point in the advance sales cycle, the film is outselling “The Equalizer” and “Olympus Has Fallen.”
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