Has Terminator met its dark fate?
It might be judgment day for the
Terminator franchise. Despite generally favourable reviews and the return of star Linda Hamilton and producer James Cameron, Terminator: Dark Fate has opened well below expectations at the box office. Studios estimated that
Dark Fate earned only US$29 million ($45 million) from more than 4000 North American locations. The film from Paramount Pictures cost a reported US$185 million to produce.
It was enough to win the top spot at the box office, but it’s a weak victory for the franchise. Although Dark Fate, which was directed by
Deadpool’s Tim Miller, received much better reviews (currently at 69 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes) and was praised for being a return to form to Cameron’s original films, it opened just slightly ahead of 2015’s roundly derided Terminator: Genisys.
“These big brands carry with them huge expectations, often unrealistic expectations,” said Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “It wasn’t for lack of enthusiasm for the stars and film-makers.”
Internationally, Dark Fate did much better, earning US$72.9 million from 48 markets. Fox International, not Paramount, is handling international distribution, excluding
China. Second place went to Joker, which added US$13.9 million, bringing its global earnings to US$934 million in just five weeks in theatres.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil landed in third place in its third weekend with an additional US$12.2 million. The Angelina Jolie-led sequel has grossed US$84.3 million in North America.
One bright spot of the weekend, which is down nearly 19 per cent from last year when Bohemian Rhapsody opened, is Focus Features’ Harriet, which is the first film ever made about Harriet Tubman. Starring Cynthia Erivo in the title role, Harriet performed better than expected, earning US$12 million from just over 2000 theatres to take fourth place.
The film scored a coveted A+ CinemaScore from audiences, who were primarily female 62 and over the age of 35 (59 per cent). African Americans also made up a significant portion of the audience (49 per cent) according to exit polls.
Other newcomers struggled to find that kind of enthusiasm this weekend. Edward Norton’s adaptation of Jonathan Lethem’s Motherless
Brooklyn opened in ninth place to US$3.7 million, while the animated
Arctic Dogs took 10th with US$3.1
million.
One of the highest profile new films of the weekend, Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, does not have any box office numbers to report, however, because Netflix declines to provide numbers for its theatrical releases. Starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, the film which opened in limited release before hitting Netflix on November 27 is expected to be a major Oscars contender. “With all eyes on The
Irishman, it’s unfortunate that we don’t have numbers on it,” Dergarabedian said.