Predator: Badlands Set to Reinvigorate Box Office After Dismal October

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Following a historically slow October for movie ticket sales, the box office is hoping to recover in November, beginning with Disney/20th Century Studios’ Predator: Badlands. Director Dan Trachtenberg, who previously directed the Predator films Prey (2022) and the upcoming Predator: Killer of Killers (2025) for streaming on Hulu, is back with this new, standalone story.

Predator: Badlands is the ninth movie in the Predator series, which began with the 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers. Over the years, the series has included films like Predator 2 (1990), Predators (2010), and The Predator (2018), as well as crossover movies featuring the Alien franchise, such as Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007). Now, the series is back in theaters with this new installment.

With a budget of $105 million, Predator: Badlands is the only major movie opening widely this weekend and is predicted to be the number one film at the box office. Several other films are debuting in around 1,000 theaters, including Nuremberg starring Russell Crowe, Die My Love with Jennifer Lawrence, the Sydney Sweeney boxing biopic Christy, and Sarah’s Oil.

We expect Predator: Badlands to be the number one movie at the box office this weekend, earning around $29.8 million.

Predator: Badlands Will Help Cure A Slumping Box Office

Set far in the future of the Predator universe, Predator: Badlands follows Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Kolomatangi), a young Yautja warrior who is smaller than the others in his tribe. Determined to prove himself, he embarks on a quest to hunt a dangerous creature, but his journey leads him to an unexpected challenge in the form of Thia (Elle Fanning).

The movie is getting a lot of positive attention from critics. It started with an 87% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 52 reviews, and that score has now climbed to 88% with 95 reviews. Experts predict it will earn between $25 and $30 million domestically during its opening weekend, and around $30 to $35 million internationally.

Even if Predator: Badlands does better than expected and opens around $30 million, it probably won’t break the franchise’s opening weekend record. Alien vs. Predator from 2004 still holds that record with $38.2 million. However, Badlands is likely to earn more than both Predators (2010, $24.8 million) and The Predator (2018, $24.6 million).

A Very Weak Remaining Field of Holdovers At The Box Office

The box office results last weekend were very tight. Initially, Paramount’s romance film, Regretting You, was thought to have won with around $8.1 million in sales. However, when the final numbers came in on Monday, it actually came in second place, narrowly behind the horror sequel Black Phone 2, which earned an estimated $8 million.

The latest numbers for Monday show Black Phone 2 taking the lead with $8.3 million, a slight increase from previous days. Regretting You came in second with $7.8 million. Black Phone 2’s earnings only decreased by 35.5% in its third week, while Regretting You experienced a larger drop of 42.9% during its second weekend.

This weekend, “Black Phone 2” is expected to move to second place with $4.9 million in earnings. “Regretting You” will likely be close behind in third, earning around $4.2 million. Meanwhile, Sony’s “Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc” saw a significant drop of 65.5%, bringing in $6.2 million in its second week. It’s predicted to fall to eighth place this weekend with around $2.8 million.

Four New Releases That Will Barely Make a Box Office Dent

This weekend, several well-known actors are appearing in new films, though they’re not expected to be huge box office hits. Sydney Sweeney stars in Christy, a movie about the life of Christy Martin, a pioneering female boxer who helped popularize the sport in the 1990s.

David Michod’s new film tells the story of a woman and her abusive husband, Ben Foster, who attempted to kill her in 2010. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and initially received positive reviews, with a 70% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While still generally well-received, the score has slightly dropped to 68% as the film prepares for its release.

Christy is expected to open in fourth place with around $4 million, but it’s likely to be very close between the second, third, and fourth-place films, so it could potentially move higher.

The new black comedy Die My Love, directed by Lynne Ramsay and starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, is getting good reviews – it currently has a 76% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, because it’s being released in only a limited number of theaters, it’s not predicted to be a big box office success despite the popularity of its stars.

We’re putting it in fifth place with $3.7 million for the weekend.

This weekend also brings two new films to cinemas: the historical drama Nuremberg, featuring Russell Crowe and Rami Malek, and Sarah’s Oil, a true story about Sarah Rector, a young Black woman who became one of the first female millionaires in America thanks to oil discovered on her land in Texas.

Nuremberg comes in at number six with $3.4 million, and Sarah’s Oil is seventh with $3.1 million. Here’s our forecast for the top 10 movies at the box office this weekend, November 7th through 9th.

Box Office Predictions – November 7-9
Movie Title Predicted Opening Weekend Gross
Predator: Badlands $29.8 million
Black Phone 2 $4.9 million
Regretting You $4.2 million
Christy $4 million
Die My Love $3.7 million
Nuremburg $3.4 million
Sarah’s Oil $3.1 million
Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc $2.9 million
Bugonia $2.1 million
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere $1.8 million

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2025-11-06 02:44