LOS ANGELES: In a surprise box office win, Roland Emmerich’s World War II epic Midway took down the competition in North America to land in first place with $17.5 million.
Heading into the weekend, Warner Bros.’ Stephen King adaptation Doctor Sleep was widely expected to take the top prize, but the R-rated sequel to 1980’s The Shining debuted at No. 2 with a slumbering $14.1 million from 3,855 venues, nearly half of studio projections. With lackluster ticket sales across domestic box office charts, ticket sales were down over 26% from the same weekend last year, according to Comscore.
Though Midway arrived ahead of tracking, the film carries a massive $100 million price tag and still has a long and arduous journey ahead to achieve profitability. Lionsgate, the studio distributing the movie, positioned its release to take advantage of Veterans Day and expects Midway to collect $20.05 million from 3,242 North American locations through its first four days in theaters. Emmerich’s tale enlisted Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans and Nick Jonas to bring the Battle of Midway to the big screen for a new generation. Older males represented 60% of ticket buyers for Midway, a demographic that doesn’t typically turn out in force on opening weekend.
“Roland Emmerich is a visionary filmmaker, and audiences loved the movie,” said David Spitz, Lionsgate’s president of domestic distribution. “What’s really terrific about the results is it sets us up to play throughout the holidays, knowing that the older demo doesn’t rush out.”
Audiences who did rush out lived mostly in the Heartland, where Midway overperformed in Dallas and Salt Lake City, as well as Arizona and Seattle. Midway landed an A CinemaScore from moviegoers, the best result among new releases Doctor Sleep (B+), Paramount’s family film Playing With Fire (B+) and Universal’s rom-com Last Christmas (B-).
Doctor Sleep was more favored among critics (it holds a 73% average on Rotten Tomatoes compared to Midway’s 41%), suggesting moviegoers were less familiar with the source material and thus less inclined to rush out on opening weekend. Set decades after the events in The Shining, which debuted almost 40 years ago, Doctor Sleep” sees Ewan McGregor take on the role of Danny Torrance, a man with psychic abilities who struggles with childhood trauma. Mike Flanagan (Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House) wrote and directed the film.
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