Street Fighter is leading the box office battle in its opening weekend as Elizabeth Holmes documentary You Can See Everything draws big crowds, while Whalefall has trouble making a splash.
Coming in on the lighter side of Paramount Pictures’ projected sum, Street Fighter grossed $13 million on Friday, including Thursday previews, and will open with around $31 million domestically for the weekend from 3,575 North American theaters. Marking the first release in Paramount’s distribution deal with Legendary, the studio had been expecting a debut in the mid-$30 millions for director Kitao Sakurai’s feature adaptation of the Capcom video game. Noah Centineo, Andrew Koji and Callina Liang star in the $82 million-budgeted movie focusing on a combat tournament.
Street Fighter earned a B- CinemaScore from audiences and has struggled to win over critics, holding a 42 percent approval from Rotten Tomatoes reviewers, along with an audience score of 82. In his review for The Hollywood Reporter, critic Frank Scheck called the film a “jumbled tonal mess” and “only sporadically entertaining.”
Jumping out to an impressive start from 855 North American locations is A24’s You Can See Everything, as the documentary about Theranos founder Holmes’ life leading up to her prison sentence collected $5.5 million Friday, including Thursday previews, as it opens with around $12 million. The studio reports roughly 750 sellout screenings for the weekend and plenty of lines in cinemas as the movie heads to one of the best-ever starts for a non-music doc, besting the $7 million opening earlier this year that gave Melania the biggest launch for a film in the category in over a decade.
Directors Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim‘s You Can See Everything is a strong draw for younger audiences, with the turnout showing 75 percent of ticket buyers in New York and Los Angeles as under age 35. Critics and general attendees alike have marveled at You Can See Everything, and it boasts a 99 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from both reviewers and audiences. It stands as the highest-rated Letterboxd title ever with a 4.8 score.
Universal Pictures’ Other Mommy could be heading for third place with around $7.8 million, marking a sharp decline of about 72 percent after earning a D+ CinemaScore in last weekend’s debut. Jessica Chastain stars as a sinister spirit appearing in a girl’s closet in Rob Savage’s horror offering that heads to an estimated domestic sum of $43.3 million after opening at No. 1 a week ago.
Getting a quiet start is 20th Century Studios’ Whalefall, which is expected to reel in around $7 million from 3,065 North American theaters. This is below the $11 million that the studio was projecting for director Brian Duffield’s survival thriller starring Austin Abrams as a scuba diver swallowed by a sperm whale. Earning a B CinemaScore from audiences, Whalefall carries a $60 million budget for the feature adaptation of Daniel Kraus’ 2023 novel.
Whalefall holds a 71 percent critics approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with an 82 score from audiences. THR chief film critic David Rooney wrote in his review that the movie is “just not batshit crazy enough to be much fun.”
Coming in just below that on the chart is Focus Features’ Sense and Sensibility, which took in $3.2 million on Friday, including Thursday previews, for an estimated opening of $6.7 million from 2,545 North American theaters. Earning an A- CinemaScore, director Georgia Oakley’s adaptation of Jane Austen‘s esteemed novel stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles in the story of the Dashwood sisters navigating life after their father’s death.
Carrying a budget in the mid-$20 millions, Sense and Sensibility holds a 75 percent approval from Rotten Tomatoes critics and an 89 score from audiences. Rooney noted that the film “seldom steps out from the long shadow of Ang Lee’s enchanting 1995 retelling.”
Additionally, Netflix releases buzzy Oscar contender La Bola Negra in four theaters, with this title marking the first time ever that the streamer will publicly release box office returns.
The options heading to theaters next weekend include Clayface, Wildwood, Klara and the Sun, Ali G: Who Iz I? and Wicker.