Zendaya‘s romance-tennis drama Challengers is battling to serve up a $15 million opening at the box office but will have enough points to win the weekend match either way.
MGM Amazon Studio made the bold decision to open Luca Guadagnino‘s sexy adult drama nationwide, versus a platform release, considering it’s more of an arthouse movie than a commercial play. MGM is still predicting a $15.2 million start based on Friday’s gross of $6.2 million from 3,477 cinemas and Zendaya’s huge fan base. Rival studios, however, have it coming in anywhere between $13.5 million and $15 million (heading into the weekend, tracking suggested the latter number).
Audiences aren’t embracing the R-rated film to the degree that reviewers did, giving it a B+ CinemaScore. Female moviegoers made up 58 percent of Friday’s audience, while a whopping 76 percent of ticket buyers were between ages 18 and 34. Challengers is playing best on the two coasts, and is benefiting from playing to an ethnically diverse audience. White moviegoers made up 43 percent of Friday ticket buyers, followed by Latino moviegoers (27 percent), Black moviegoers (17 percent), Asian moviegoers (9 percent) and Native American/others (4 percent.)
Challengers, co-starring Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor, features Zendaya as a tennis player torn between two loves.
“Smart, seductive and bristling with sexual tension, Challengers is arguably Luca Guadagnino’s most purely pleasurable film to date; it’s certainly his lightest and most playful,” writes THR‘s David Rooney in his rave review. “As agile and dynamic as the many tennis matches it depicts, the love-triangle drama pits the rivalry on the court of two former best friends against their competing desire for a self-possessed woman whose hunger to win is not diminished by a knee injury that cuts short her own career.”
Challengers was supposed to open last year in time for awards season, but those plans were scuttled because of the SAG-AFTRA strike and the ban on talent doing press. Zendaya in particular has a huge social reach needed for the film. Exhibitors have praised Amazon for embracing the theatrical model instead of sending a movie such as Challengers straight to streaming.
Coming in No. 2 at the domestic box office is Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company’s Unsung Hero, which is performing better than expected after earning a coveted A+ cinemaScore. The faith-based film grossed $3.7 million from 2,823 cinemas on Friday for a projected $8 million-plus opening (tracking had suggested $5 million to $6 million).
Unsung Hero is skewing heavily female (69 percent) and is performing best in the middle of the country.
Based on a true story, the $6 million film follows David Smallbone as he moves his family from Australia to the U.S. searching for a brighter future after his successful music company collapses. He and his wife begin to realize the musical talent of their seven children; three of them who would go on to become two successful acts — KING + COUNTRY and Rebecca St. James.
Rounding out the top five domestically are Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Civil War and Abigail.
Godzilla x Kong and Dune: Part Two — both from Warner Bros. and Legendary — are expected to celebrate major milestones at this weekend when crossing $700 million and $500 million, respectively, at the global box office. They are the two biggest films of the year to date.
One surprise twist — 20th Century and Disney’s rerelease of Ridley Scott’s Alien looks to come in No. 10 with $1.8 million to $20 million.
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