“Predator: Badlands” Revives box Office After Record Lows
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A strong debut from “Predator: Badlands” offered a much-needed boost to North American theaters this weekend,signaling a potential shift after a prolonged period of sluggish performance.
The sci-fi action film,the eighth installment in the long-running franchise,opened to an estimated $40 million,exceeding industry expectations and providing a welcome reprieve following the worst box office weekend of 2025. This marks a new high for the “Predator” series, surpassing the $38.3 million launch of 2004’s “Alien vs. Predator.”
A New Chapter for the Predator Franchise
“Predator: Badlands,” helmed by writer and director Dan Trachtenberg, has already grossed $40 million internationally, bringing its total to $80 million for 20th Century Studios, a subsidiary of The Walt disney Co.Despite a hefty production budget of $105 million – making it the most expensive film in the “Predator” series to date – the film’s strong opening suggests a positive return on investment.
The film introduces a unique narrative twist,following a young,outcast predator,played by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi,and his unexpected encounter with an android researcher portrayed by Elle Fanning. Early reviews have been largely positive, with an 85% “fresh” rating on rotten Tomatoes.
Other new releases fared differently. Rami Malek and Russell Crowe, fared slightly better with $4.1 million in 1,802 theaters.
However, “Sarah’s Oil,” an Amazon MGM release starring Naya Desir-Johnson, emerged as a surprise success, opening with $4.5 million from 2,410 locations and earning a rare “A+” CinemaScore. The film tells the story of a young Black girl in the early 1900s who discovers oil on her Oklahoma land allotment.
Neon’s “sentimental Value,” a critically acclaimed family drama directed by Joachim Trier and featuring Elle Fanning in a second role of the weekend, showed strong potential with a $50,000 per-screen average from just four theaters, marking the third-best opening of the year.
Disney’s Continued Success
The strong performance of “Predator: Badlands” has solidified The Walt Disney Co.’s position as a box office powerhouse, marking its fourth consecutive year with over $4 billion in worldwide ticket sales. The studio has overcome recent disappointments with films like “Tron: Ares” and “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” and is poised to surpass $5 billion with upcoming releases “Zootopia 2” and “Avatar: Fire and ash.”
Here’s a look at the top 10 films at the North American box office this weekend, according to Comscore:
- “Predator: Badlands,” $40 million.
- “Regretting You,” $7.1 million.
- “Black Phone 2,” $5.3 million.
- “Sarah’s Oil,” $4.5 million.
- “Nuremberg,” $4.1 million.
- “Chainsaw Man,” $3.6 million.
- “Bugonia,” $3.5 million.
- “Die My Love,” $2.8 million.
- “Springsteen: Deliver Me From nowhere,” $2.2 million.
- “Tron: Ares,” $1.8 million.
The weekend’s results suggest a cautious optimism for the future of the box office, with “predator: Badlands” leading the charge toward a potential recovery.
