Universal/Blumhouse’s The First Purge minted $2.5M last night at 2,350 theaters from 7PM showtimes, the fourth best in preview ticket sales for the horror franchise. The 5-day forecast for the Gerard McMurray-directed prequel is between $25M-$36M.
The First Purge, which cost, an estimated $13M before P&A, marks the first time that Uni has opened a Purge movie on a Wednesday.
The Purge: Election Year posted the best preview results for the franchise at $3.64M at 2,343 locations two years ago on the Thursday prior to the 4-day Independence Day stretch when the holiday fell on a Monday. The threequel turned in a 3-day of $31.5M, 4-day of $36.1M and the series’ best domestic gross of $79.2M. The very first Purge made $3.44M in previews before surprising June 2013 moviegoers and the industry with a $34M opening (final domestic $64M). The Purge: Anarchy in July 2014 made $2.64M in previews, a slightly smaller opening weekend of $29.8M and more in the end stateside with $72M. In total, the franchise has made $320M worldwide for Universal and Blumhouse.
The First Purge is also opening in 27 offshore territories this weekend. The Purge isn’t a horror series that bowls critics over: This installment currently has a 45% Rotten Tomatoes Score which is better than the first 2013 film at 38% Rotten, but under Election Year (53%) and Anarchy (56% Rotten). Election Year earned the best audience score results on CinemaScore for the series with a B+, followed by Anarchy (B) and the original Purge (C).
While today is typically a sleep day at the box office as moviegoers head to swimming, BBQ and fireworks, tomorrow night is when the action begins as Disney/Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp kicks off previews at 6PM.
Yesterday Uni’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom continued to be the top-grossing movie with $11.9M, +39% over Monday with a running total of $286.2M. Some believe the sequel has a shot of ultimately clearing over $400M at the domestic B.O.
Disney/Pixar’s Incredibles 2 was second with $10.2M, +34% with a running total of $458.5M. Sony/Black Label Media’s Sicario: Day of the Soldado earned $2.6M, +20% for a five-day take of $23.7M in 4th place. Lionsgate’s Uncle Drew made $2.5M, +37% for a five-day run of $19.5M.
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