“Blade Runner 2049” earned a solid $4 million at the Thursday box office, with $800,000 coming in from IMAX screens.
The futuristic film was estimated by trackers to earn $45 million to $50 million this weekend. In comparison, 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” grossed $3.7 million at the Thursday previews and went on to earn $45 million. “Alien: Covenant” grossed $4.2 million earlier this year and had an opening weekend of $40 million. And “War for the Planet of the Apes” grossed $5 million before opening to $56.2 million.
The record opening weekend for October is held by 2013’s “Gravity,” which grossed $1.4 million at the Thursday pre-shows and grossed $55.7 million over the weekend. “The Martian” is ranked second with a $54 million opening weekend after grossing $2.7 million in previews.
“Blade Runner 2049” sees Harrison Ford return as Rick Deckard as he is hunted by an LAPD Blade Runner (Ryan Gosling) investigating a movement to free bioengineered humans known as Replicants. Denis Villeneuve directed from a script written by original “Blade Runner” screenwriter Hampton Fancher with Michael Green. Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Dave Bautista and Jared Leto also star. Andrew A. Kosove, Broderick Johnson, and Bud & Cynthia Yorkin are producers, with original “Blade Runner” director Ridley Scott as executive producer.
The film, which is being released 30 years after Scott’s original, currently holds a score of 89 percent “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes.
Kate Winslet and Idris Elba star in “The Mountain Between Us,” which grossed $400,000 from 2,535 locations on Thursday night. Opening wide in 3,088 locations on Friday, trackers estimate the film will gross $11 million to $13 million its opening weekend.
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The Fox 2000/Chernin Entertainment romance/disaster movie premiered in Toronto and stars Elba and Winslet as two survivors of a plane crash in the mountains of Utah. Hany Abu-Assad directed from a script by Chris Weitz and J. Mills Goodloe with Peter Chernin, David Ready and Jenno Topping as producers. The film currently has a 51 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating.
Lastly, the film adaptation of the hit animated TV series, “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic,” is opening this weekend. “My Little Pony: The Movie” is tracking for an opening of roughly $10 million from 2,500 screens. Jayson Thiessen is directing from a screenplay by Meghan McCarthy, Rita Hsiao and Michael Vogel. Brian Goldner, Haven Alexander, Stephen Davis and Marcia Gwendolyn Jones are producers.
The family film features the series’ regular voice cast of Tara Strong, Ashleigh Ball, Andrea Libman, Tabitha St. Germain and Cathy Weseluck, but added Emily Blunt, Kristin Chenoweth, Liev Schreiber, Michael Pena, Sia, Taye Diggs, Uzo Aduba and Zoe Saldana.
“My Little Pony” holds a score of 70 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.