The film earned US$35 million (RM143.26 million) in its opening weekend, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations, far outpacing the competition. It also marks a huge moment for director Clint Eastwood as his highest ever opening, eclipsing his previous personal directorial best of $18 million for 2000’s Space Cowboys.
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Both audiences and critics responded strongly to the taut drama – Eastwood’s first since American Sniper.
Sully was made for $60 million, so in order to reach profitability, it will likely need to gross well north of $100 million. In October 2013, Hanks’ Captain Phillips opened to $25.7 million. He added the studio debated whether to open Sully on the same weekend as the 15th anniversary of 9/11.
Overseas, Sully took $9.5-M from its first 39 markets for a worldwide start of $45-M. This includes $2.3 million from Australia, $925,000 in Russian Federation and $929,000 from the United Arab Emirates.
The real-life event of the US Airways Flight 1549 was dubbed the “Miracle on the Hudson”.
Sully also stars Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight) as Sully’s co-pilot, Jeff Skiles, and Oscar nominee Laura Linney (The Savages, Kinsey) as Sully’s wife, Lorrie Sullenberger.
Meanwhile, Kate Beckinsale’s new horror The Disappointments Room was a big disappointment at the USA box office, taking in just $1.4 million (GBP1.06 million) thanks in part to a series of bad reviews. Captain Sully’s courageous act saved all 155 passengers and crew on the plane.
The No. 2 release this weekend was the Screen Gems release, When The Bough Breaks.
The movie, which takes place days after the crash, also replays the events the day of the crash on January 15, 2009.
The film presents a couple, desperate to be parents, who pick a young, attractive surrogate.
When the Bough Breaks looks to be on the same track as Don’t Breathe, a modestly budgeted thriller that soared past its $10 million budget in just one weekend.
Warner’s sixth weekend of “Suicide Squad” followed in fourth with $5.7 million at 3,103 sites for a domestic total of $307.4 million. Lionsgate’s launch of European animated comedy “The Wild Life” generated only modest interest in fifth place with $3.4 million at 2,493 locations while Relativity’s horror film “The Disappointments Room” was almost invisible with $1.4 million at 1,554 screens for a dismal $901 per-screen average. Lionsgate is distributing the movie – loosely based on Robinson Crusoe, but told from the point of view of the island’s animals – in the U.S. It was released in March in Belgium and in April in France. The Disappointments Room, directed by D.J. Caruso (I Am Number Four) and starring Kate Beckinsale, earned a disastrous $1.4 million from 1,550 theaters.
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“With adult dramas, it’s not about opening day”, said Goldstein. The drop this weekend for the film was about 48 percent.
