Blockbuster movie season plants its last flag of 2022 this weekend, with one big star-driven film opening left before the back-to-school season ushers in a quieter set of releases.
That film is Sony’s (NYSE:SONY) Bullet Train, starring Brad Pitt along with a game ensemble cast in an action adventure involving a handful of assassins pursuing a goal on a high-speed train.
The movie brought in $4.6M in Thursday previews, and with an opening in more than 4,300 domestic theaters, it’s likely to lead the way this weekend with a debut in the $30M range – and then hope for a long, healthy run, at a reported $90M cost to produce (not to mention marketing).
It squares off against light family comedy Easter Sunday (NASDAQ:CMCSA), starring comedian Jo Koy, and A24 slasher comedy Bodies Bodies Bodies.
But neither of those films is likely to surpass last week’s leader, DC League of Super-Pets (WBD) – which if it sheds 50% of opening-weekend business should still land at $11M-$12M. And Jordan Peele’s Nope (CMCSA) is still out there after last weekend’s $18.6M take, as is Thor: Love and Thunder (DIS), which pulled $13.2M in its fourth weekend.
In any case, with the release schedule calming, this is likely to be the biggest weekend at the movies for several weeks at least. Enjoying a relatively upbeat summer of moviegoing are the industry exhibitors: AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC); Cineworld (OTCPK:CNNWF); Cinemark (NYSE:CNK); (IMAX); Marcus (MCS); Reading International (RDI); Cineplex (OTCPK:CPXGF); National CineMedia (NCMI).
