by David Leitch High-speed train easily topped the Friday chart with an opening day gross of $12.6 million, including $4.6 million in Thursday previews.
Brad Pitt leads an all-star cast in this story of a wandering assassin on a Japanese bullet train. Other names on the marquee include Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon and Sandra Bullock.
Sony, which has waged an aggressive marketing campaign in hopes of generating interest, is eyeing a nationwide launch of around $30 million. Critics haven’t exactly embraced High-speed train, which currently holds a 53% review score on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences awarded the film a B+ CinemaScore.
High-speed train is the latest big studio deal of the summer, putting increased pressure on the film’s performance. Typically, the summer box office season lasts until Labor Day, but delays due to the pandemic continue and studios are seeing some of their movies delayed in post-production.
The other novelty of the weekend is the comedy of Jay Chandrasekhar Easter Sundaystarring Jo Koy as a struggling actor and comedian who attends a rowdy dinner party with his Filipino family.
Easter Sunday is heading for a $5 million debut after earning $2 million on Friday, in line with expectations.
Jimmy O. Yang, Tia Carrere, Brandon Wardell, Eva Noblezada, Lydia Gaston, Asif Ali, Rodney To, Tiffany Haddish and Lou Diamond Phillips star in the Universal movie.
