“The Bone Temple” Crumbles At Box-Office

Stellar reviews weren’t enough to help Nia DaCosta’s “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” at the box-office.

The horror film is coming in decidedly under expectations. Earlier this week, the title was projected to hit over $20 million for the four-day holiday weekend.

Now, those estimates are being revised downward to $13.2 million for the three-day and $15 million for the four-day following the title earning just $5.6 million on Friday (including previews).

That’s a far cry from the $30 million debut of last year’s “28 Years Later”, a drop of 56%, which isn’t going to please anyone.

One difference is ‘Bone Temple’ is getting a decidedly better reception. The film did slightly better with critics, and is doing notably better in audience aggregate scores, along with a much improved A- CinemaScore (last year’s film scored a ‘B’). PostTrak saw a similar lift with a 72% definite recommend compared to the 52% for last year’s film.

International is also key to these films so how it fares overseas will impact. The movie reportedly had a net production cost of $63 million – on par with the first film’s $60 million.

Meanwhile, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” is on track to retain the top spot with a haul of $14.4 million for the three-day and $17.6 million for the four-day holiday. “Zootopia 2,” “The Housemaid” and “Marty Supreme” round out the top five.

“Primate” looks to be dropping 53% and “Greenland 2: Migration” falling 61% in their second weekends, while “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” re-release is heading for a $4.4 million take over the holiday.

Source: Deadline