The opening of Blade Runner 2049 has finally arrived. The movie is looking to earn $45 million to $50 million when it launches in more than 4,000 locations in North America this weekend, Variety reports.
These estimates are drawing on comparisons to movies like Mad Max: Fury Road, which made $45 million during the opening, ultimately making $378.8 million worldwide.
Warner Bros. is handling the domestic distribution of Blade Runner 2049. Sony is taking care of everything overseas.
The original Blade Runner may have an intense following, but it did not necessarily blow the box office out of the water. According to Variety, the movie made $6.2 million when it open in 1982, three weeks after E.T. opened. Overall, the dystopian sci-fi movie made $32.9 million in theaters.
According to Variety, MovieTickets.com reports that advance ticket sales are six times that of Villeneuve’s last film, Arrival, and double 2015’s The Martian. Blade Runner 2049 is also highly ranked on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 95 percent from critics. It is long, however, clocking in at 183 minutes, which limits the number of screenings per day, writes Variety.
The original was created by Ridley Scott. This one had Denis Villeneuve calling the shots, reports Variety. It takes place in Los Angeles in 2049, and the world is full of “bioengineered humans called Replicants.” Officer K (Ryan Gosling), a blade runner for the LAPD, uncovers a shocking secret, and goes off in search of Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), who has been missing for 30 years.
The movie will probably be the biggest opening this weekend. The Mountain Between Us looks to make between $11 million and $13 million while My Little Pony will probably make about the same.
It shattered box office records this past September, so any movie openings in October are following in big footsteps. It made a total of $290.8 million last month, following a pretty dreary moviegoing summer, Variety reports.
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