Street Fighter is hoping for a muscular opening weekend at the box office as it faces competition from a number of newcomers, including A24’s Elizabeth Holmes documentary You Can See Everything.
Paramount Pictures releases video game adaptation Street Fighter in more than 3,500 North American theaters on Friday, with the studio projecting a range of mid-$30 millions domestically and another sum of mid-$30 millions internationally. Director Kitao Sakurai’s feature carries an $82 million production budget that is split evenly between producers Legendary Pictures and Capcom. Paramount sees only upside for the film that marks the first release in its distribution deal with Legendary.
Critics have not been blown away, with Street Fighter holding a 43 percent approval rating from reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes. In his review for The Hollywood Reporter, critic Frank Scheck called the film a “jumbled tonal mess” and “only sporadically entertaining.” Noah Centineo, Andrew Koji and Callina Liang star in the movie that centers on a combat tournament. Street Fighter marks the third feature in the franchise adapting the Capcom video game that launched in 1987.
Also hitting theaters is Whalefall, with 20th Century Studios releasing director Brian Duffield’s survival thriller in 3,065 North American locations. The studio projects an opening between $10 million and $12 million for the $60 million-budgeted feature that adapts author Daniel Kraus’ 2023 novel. After leading last month’s Resident Evil, Austin Abrams stars as a scuba diver who, while searching for the remains of his late father (Josh Brolin), is swallowed by a sperm whale.
Whalefall holds a 70 percent critics approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In his review, THR chief film critic David Rooney wrote that the movie is “just not batshit crazy enough to be much fun.”
A24 has high hopes for You Can See Everything, the documentary following infamous Theranos founder Holmes in the lead-up to the start of her prison sentence. The studio releases the feature in around 800 North American theaters, with projections coming in around $7 million for the $5 million-budgeted doc from directors Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim. Earlier this year, Melania opened to $7 million from 1,700 domestic theaters, marking the highest-grossing non-music doc launch in over a decade.
You Can See Everything boasts a superlative 100 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. In her review for THR, critic Angie Han deems it “smart, funny and full of surprises.”
Also making its debut this weekend is Focus Features’ Sense and Sensibility, which opens in 2,436 North American locations. Focus projects an $8 million domestic haul for filmmaker Georgia Oakley’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic work, with the movie carrying a budget in the mid-$20 millions. Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles star as the Dashwood sisters as they grapple with their father’s death. Ang Lee helmed 1995’s Oscar-winning version that starred Emma Thompson and remains well-regarded.
The new Sense and Sensibility stands at 77 approval from reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes. Rooney writes that the film “seldom steps out from the long shadow of Ang Lee’s enchanting 1995 retelling.”