Box Office: ‘The Predator’ Bites Off $24 Million Bow

LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) - “The Predator” was able to fend off “The Nun” at the domestic box office.

Shane Black’s “The Predator” launched with a tepid $24 million from 4,037 North American locations. That was easily enough to top the weekend box office, but not enough to land a franchisebest debut. That distinction still belongs to 2010’s “Predator” with $24.7 million (not including the two “Alien vs. Predator” crossover films). Overseas, “The Predator” earned $30.7 million for a global start of $54.7 million. It will need to generate big business internationally to justify its $88 million production budget.

Warner Bros. “The Nun” dropped to second place, picking up $18 million in its second weekend for a domestic tally of $85 million. Meanwhile, Lionsgate’s “A Simple Favor” debuted at No. 3 with $16 million on 3,102 screens. Another new offering, Matthew McConaughey’s “White Boy Rick,” along with “Crazy Rich Asians” rounded out the top five.

Though “The Predator” opened at the lower end of estimates, it doesn’t seem surrounding controversy tainted the sci-fi film. Prior to its premiere, “The Predator” drew ire after 20th Century Fox announced it deleted a scene featuring registered sex offender Steven Wilder Striegel. The studio said it was “not aware” of Striegel’s background when he was hired. Black has since apologized for casting Striegel, who is a friend of his.

Chris Aronson, head of domestic distribution at Fox, said the scandal didn’t influence weekend numbers. “I don’t think it dissuaded anyone who wasn’t predestined to go. I think it had minimal, if any, impact,” he said.

The fourth installment — starring Olivia Munn, Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Keegan Michael Key, and Sterling K. Brown — has generated mediocre reception. It holds a bleak 34 percent average on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, along with a C+ CinemaScore.