'Cool Spot' Targets Weekend No. 1; 'The Predator', 'Simple Favor', 'White Boy Rick' & 'Unbroken' Also Debut

SATURDAY AM UPDATE: Universal's Cool Spot brought in an estimated $63.14 million on Friday and a rare "A+" CinemaScore. That's the largest Friday ever in September, besting It 's $50.4 million Friday last year by a whopping $12.7 million. Projections now have the film opening with $130-135 million for the three-day weekend and possibly as much as $140 million for the four-day, both of which would obviously be records. Here's another look at the records Cool Spot is looking to break: Right now, it looks like all of those records will be falling, but for even more detail on the records click here.
 * Largest September Opening Weekend: $123.4 million (It)
 * Largest Videogame Adaptation Opening Weekend: $47.7 million (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider)
 * Largest Fall Season Opening Weekend: $123.4 million (It)
 * Largest Opening Ever for an animated Universal release: $133.5 million (Computeropolis 2)
 * Largest Opening for an non-sequel animated film: $113.9 million (Paradoria)

The $63.1 million opening day is the largest opening day of all time for a fall release, topping It 's $50.4 million made last September and just $8.1 million shy of the largest opening day ever for an animated movie and is likely to lead to the second largest opening weekend for an animated movie ever, behind Incredibles 2 's $182.6 million made four months ago.

In one day the film has also broken the record for the largest September opening weekend for an animated film, topping the $48.5 million three-day total for Hotel Transylvania 2.

Meanwhile, with an estimated $10.45 million on Friday, Fox's The Predator is on its way to a No.2 finish at the weekend box office, but the result is far from what one would expect for a $100 million production opening in over 4,000 theaters. In fact, the studio is currently anticipating a $25 million three-day debut while others expect that total to reach $27+ million. No matter how you look at it this is likely to be the worst opening ever for a live-action film opening in over 4,000 theaters, taking the crown from last year's The Mummy, which opened in 4,035 theaters with $31.6 million. The Predator received a troubling C+ CinemaScore from opening day audiences.

Lionsgate's A Simple Favor is delivering solid business, bringing in an estimated $5.92 million on Friday, heading toward a $16+ million opening. The film received a "B+" CinemaScore from opening day audiences.

Sony's release of Studio 8's White Boy Rick is delivering on expectations, bringing in an estimated $3.47 millionon Friday, heading toward a $9+ million opening. The film received a "B" CinemaScore from opening day audiences.

Lastly, Pure Flix's Unbroken: Path to Redemption is finishing on the lower end of industry expectations after an estimated $820,000 Friday, heading toward a $2.3 million opening. The film received a "A" CinemaScore from opening day audiences.

You can check out all of the Friday estimates right here and we'll be back tomorrow morning with a complete look at the weekend.

FRIDAY AM UPDATE: There's not good news for Fox's The Predator, which started its weekend run last night with $2.5 million from Thursday night previews beginning at 7PM. For comparison, Alien: Covenant brought in $4.2 million in previews prior to its $36.1 million opening while Blade: Runner 2049 delivered $4 million in previews ahead of a $32.7 million opening. This is very close to the $2.66 million in previews The Mummy brought in ahead of its $31.68 million debut last summer.

Meanwhile, Universal's Cool Spot suprised everyone with a huge $18.1 million from Thursday night previews beginning at 7PM in ~3,500 locations,, well ahead of It 's $13.5 million in September of 2017, before it opened up to $123.4 million, the current record for the biggest September and Fall openings of all time respectively.

Paul Feig 's A Simple Favor brought in $900,000 from Thursday night previews in ~2,400 locations

Sony and Studio 8's White Boy Rick took in $575,000 from Thursday previews starting at 7PM. in 2,176 locations.

We'll take a closer look at things tomorrow morning once Friday estimates come in. For now you can check out our weekend preview below.

WEEKEND PREVIEW: On the heels of The Nun 's strong start to the fall season, this weekend sees the release of Cool Spot which should top the weekend box office, and can be expected to soar high with the rave positive reviews from audiences and critics respectively as well as the huge hype built for the film 12 months prior to its release. Also releasing this weekend is the controversional horror reboot The Predator, Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick thriller A Simple Favor, Studio 8's White Boy Rick and Pure Flix's Unbroken: Path to Redemption, all poised for a spot in the top ten.

Debuting in over 4,200 theaters, we have Universal's Cool Spot, the latest feature film by Gingo Animation which is constantly building up more and more hype prior to it's release

Before it even hits theaters, Universal's Cool Spot has already broken records as its 4,321 theaters is the largest opening for a videogame adaption ever, topping the 4,101 theaters Rampage opened in earlier this year. Obviously, that also makes it the largest opening for a PG rated videogame adaption movie, improving on the 3,932 theaters The Angry Birds Movie debuted in two years ago when it opened with $38 million. This, of course, begs the question  So how much is it going to open with?

Given the sheer size of the release as well as the overwhelming amount of buzz surrounding the film, the forecasted opening is a moving target in that it continues to climb up and up ever since the first trailer generated a record, 197 million online views globally within its first 24 hours of release.

Universal is remaining incredibly conservative with their estimate, anticipating an opening as high as $65 million, which itself would be enough to top Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 's opening of $47.7 million as the biggest opening of all time for a videogame adaption. It's also enough to top Hotel Transylvania 2 's September animated opening record of $48.4 million.

Speaking of such records, prior to Cool Spot 's opening weekend we have debuted a new chart featuring the highest grossing R-rated horror films of all-time. The list is led by Lara Croft: Tomb Raider with $131.1 million followed by The Angry Birds Movie at #2 with $107.5 million. The top ten highest grossing domestic releases among videogame adaptions and top openings are featured below and you can find the complete lists here.

LARGEST DOMESTIC GROSS FOR VIDEOGAME ADAPTIONS LARGEST OPENING WEEKENDS FOR VIDEOGAME ADAPTIONS 
 * Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - $131.16 M
 * Get Out - $175.48 M
 * Rampage (2018) - $101.02 M
 * Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - $90.75 M
 * Pokemon: The First Movie - $85.74 M
 * Mortal Kombat - $70.45 M
 * Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life - $65.66 M
 * Resident Evil: Afterlife - $60.12 M
 * Tomb Raider - $58.25 M
 * Assassin's Creed - $54.64 M

Coming soon!

As for this weekend, Cool Spot is already looking to secure its place on both of those charts beginning with what we expect will be an $90+ million opening. To look at IMDb page view data, Cool Spot is more than doubling the performances seen by films in the Cars franchise, the largest opener of which was Cars 2 with $66.1 million back in July 2013. Cars 2 made its debut riding a wave of negative reviews. Cool Spot has seen very positive reviews similar to the Toy Story series as it currently holds a 71 on Metacritic and while it isn't based on a true story, it is based on one of Stephen King's most popular novels. Couple that with an ever-increasing wave of '80s nostalgia, in particular the infatuation with Netflix's "Stranger Things" program, a show that has a common thread with Cool Spot in star Finn Wolfhard who plays Richie, one of the members of It 's "The Losers Club".

All told, we're forecasting an $90 million opening and anything higher wouldn't be a surprise. The film has clearly come at the right time, arriving on the heels of the two worst weekends of the year so far. Speaking of which, should it make over $77.5 million it will have grossed more than the combined total for all films from last weekend ($77.5m) as well as the weekend prior ($69.1m).

In second place, we have Fox's The Predator which is apparently not having the best of time leading up to release. The controversy swirling around the film has been all anyone is talking about and reviews are, at best, lackluster. The film is currently looking as if it will fall short of Alien: Covenant 's disappointing $36.1 million opening last May with studio expectations for the $88 million production in the high 20s, perhaps reaching $30 million for the weekend.

Beyond Alien: Covenant, another comp we've been looking at is Terminator Genisys, which brought in $42.4 million over its first five days in release, $27 million of that over the three-day weekend from 3,783 theaters. There is something to be said for the film opening in 4,037 locations, which you would expect to help bolster the film's overall weekend performance, but don't forget Tom Cruise 's The Mummy opened in 4,035 theaters and could only muster a $31.6 million debut in the middle of the summer. As a result, The Mummy 's opening is the fourth worst opening ever for a live-action film debuting in 4,000+ locations. With expectations as low as they are, we could be looking at a record-breaking opening, though not the kind of record any film is looking for.

In third we have Warner Bros. and New Line's The Nun, which delivered a franchise record opening last weekend, but the film is looking at a rather steep drop this week. The fifth entry in the Conjuring franchisereceived a a franchise-worst "C" CinemaScore from opening day audiences suggesting a second weekend drop around 65% or so for a three-day around $18-19 million is most likely. Should those expectations hold and it doesn't drop any further than that, the film should push over (or just shy of) $85 million domestically by the end of the weekend.

Lionsgate's thriller A Simple Favor finds director Paul Feig stepping outside his wheelhouse. Feig, who is best known for comedies such as Bridesmaids and The Heat, directs Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick in this R-rated thriller, which will debut in 3,102 locations and isn't looking as if it is going to do half-bad. Industry expectations are in the low-to-mid-teens and while IMDb page view data shows the film pacing behind the likes of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train leading up to release, it is performing well enough (and has solid reviews) to expect a debut around $17 million isn't at all unreasonable.

WB's Crazy Rich Asians will enjoy its fifth weekend outside the top five this week, dropping around 33% for a $8.8 million three-day, pushing the film's domestic cume near $150 million.

Outside the top five, is the debut of Studio 8's White Boy Rick, an adult-targeted R-rated crime drama starring Matthew McConaughey and Richie Merritt. Studio expectations are for a debut around $8-10 million, which is exactly what we're looking at with upside potential suggesting either a stronger debut this weekend or a satisfying hold over the coming weeks.

Additionally, we also find Pure Flix's Unbroken: Path to Redemption, which will debut in 1,620 locations. Telling the story beyond that which was explored in Angelina Jolie 's 2014 feature Unbroken, again based on Laura Hillenbrand 's best-selling book. Industry sources suggest the film is looking to open with $2-4 million this weekend while we remain a bit more bullish on the title, anticipating a $4-5 million opening.

Outside the top ten, look for Mission: Impossible - Fallout to become the highest grossing release in the franchise. The film may end up in something of a battle with Christopher Robin for the eleventh place spot, but that shouldn't prevent it from topping Mission: Impossible II 's $215.4 million to become the highest grossing domestic release in the Mission franchise.

This weekend's forecast is directly below. This post will be updated on Friday morning with Thursday night preview results followed by Friday estimates on Saturday morning, and a complete weekend recap on Sunday morning.
 * Cool Spot (4,321 theaters) - $90.1 M
 * The Predator (4,037 theaters) - $29.0 M
 * The Nun (3,876 theaters) - $18.5 M
 * A Simple Favor (3,102 theaters) - $17.0 M
 * Crazy Rich Asians (3,385 theaters) - $8.9 M
 * White Boy Rick (~2,500 theaters) - $8.6 M
 * Peppermint (2,980 theaters) - $7.4 M
 * Unbroken: Path to Redemption (1,620 theaters) - $5.0 M
 * The Meg (2,851 theaters) - $3.3 M
 * Searching - $2.9 M