Despite getting a weak reaction critically, M. Night Shyamalan’s two-fer sequel ‘Glass’ had a strong opening, earning $42.8M for three days, and since Monday is a holiday for many people, it is expected to generate $50.3M over four days. There were some insiders who saw it opening in the $60-$70M range, but that was unrealistic. Universal never pegged this movie to come close to those numbers. It should be pointed out, Shyamalan paid to make ‘Glass’ for $20M completely on his own. So really, anything better than that is icing on the cake. The other studios saw ‘Glass’ as a major contender, so they didn’t schedule anything else to compete with it.
Unfortunately, Shyamalan had been on a career upswing, starting with low-budget, self-financed thrillers ‘The Visit’ and ‘Split’. But ‘Glass’ will shatter that streak. It’s gotten lousy reviews, resting at 35% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences are slightly more forgiving, granting it a B CinemaScore. In comparison, ‘Split’ earned a B+ while ‘Unbreakable’ earned a C. Yes, although many people have embraced ‘Unbreakable’ over the years, when it was released in 2000, audiences were not feeling it!
‘Glass’ marks Shyamalan’s third-best opening weekend, trailing behind ‘Signs’ and ‘The Village’. This is also shaping up to be the second-best Martin Luther King Weekend opening, after ‘American Sniper’.
Here is the Top Five:
- Glass (Universal/BVI/Blumhouse) – Three-Day $42.8M/ Four-Day $50.3M
- The Upside (STX) – $15.3M/$18.6M
- Aquaman (Warner Brothers) – $10.2M/$12.4M
- A Dog’s Way Home (Sony) – $7.3M/$9.8M
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Sony) – $7.6M/$9.6M
Though it didn’t make enough to break into the Top Five, it should be noted that ‘Dragon Ball Super: Broly’ opened on Wednesday and is expected to make $17.8M by Monday, courting strictly the die-hard fanbase.
Next weekend sees the release of the family-friendly ‘The Kid Who Would Be King’, based on the legend of King Arthur. Two years ago, audiences snubbed the more adult-skewing ‘King Arthur: Legend of the Sword’. Will kids be more open to seeing this take on this particular story?
It may not be great that so many kid-friendly pictures are still out and doing decently well– ‘Aquaman’, ‘A Dog’s Way Home’, and ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’, all still in the Top Five. But family audiences may want something new.
In counter-programming, there is the thriller ‘Serenity’ starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway. In fact, counter-programming is the name of the game for the next month or so, with horror, comedy, and family pictures enjoying time in the spotlight before ‘Captain Marvel’ arrives on March 8, and officially kicks off the spring/summer season.
Check back to see how things go!
Source: Deadline
