Denis Villeneuve’s sequel to 1982’s Blade Runner is predicted to gross $31.5 million in the US and Canada on its opening weekend, while its distributor Warner Bros. had estimated a figure closer to $50m.
With a production cost of $150m for Sony and Alcon Entertainment, this is a slightly worse opening weekend by percentage than the original film, which has only just broken even if re-releases are included.
However, it has made $50.2m and become number one in 45 out of its 63 markets. Warner Bros’ Jeff Goldstein said of the opening weekend numbers: “We did well in the major and high-profile markets. Alcon and Denis [Villeneuve] made an amazing movie. The audience for it was narrower than we anticipated.”
There has been much speculation as to why this was. Its 163-minute run time limited screenings, and may have put off possible movie-goers. Its lack of a satisfactory female lead may have also deterred female viewers – PostTrack have released figures claiming that women over 25 only made up 27% of the audience, while 71% of the audience were male.
Despite the low box-office numbers, the film has been met with glowing reviews, and an A-minus CinemaScore. It seems that, like its predecessor, Blade Runner 2049 is not destined to succeed at the box-office, but only time can tell if it will be met with the same cult following as has surrounded Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi.
Watch the trailer for Blade Runner 2049 below:
