Following one of the slowest Labor Day weekend in a decade, two new thrillers will try to shake up the box office in a tight race for first place. M. Night Shyamalan [MNSHY] attempts to work his way out of director jail by going low-budget on The Visit [SUNDW] with the help of Blumhouse. Universal has been building buzz for the PG-13 rated horror film through screenings. Reviews have been favorable, so word of mouth should follow. The target audience of young teenagers may not ridicule the name Shyamalan as much as the previous generation. Dropping off in 3609 theaters, The Visit could return $16 million.
After successfully targeting Christians with War Room [WARRM], Sony goes after another under-served demographic with the PG-13 rated thriller The Perfect Guy [TPGUY]. Sanaa Lathan [SLATH] plays a woman stalked by a psycho ex-boyfriend. Last year, the similar themed No Good Deed opened to $24.3 million for Sony. The Perfect Guy could draw in $15 million from 2220 theaters.
The aforementioned War Room looks to hold steadily at around $6 million during its third outing. With its older target audience, A Walk in the Woods [WLKWD] should decline around 40% from its debut to $5 million.
The faith-based drama 90 Minutes in Heaven [90MIH] has the uneviable task of opening after War Room. The competition may leave 90 Minutes in Heaven just $2 million from 800 locations.
That’s the whisper from the virtual trading floor.
Tag(s): MNSHY, SUNDW, WARRM, TPGUY, SLATH, WLKWD, 90MIH