'Don't Worry Darling,' re-release of 'Avatar' highlight movie weekend
Another weekend in a long slow September slog for the domestic box office brings something old, something new, something Cameron and something blue - and that's just via two movies.
The "new" comes from Don't Worry Darling (NASDAQ:WBD), the Olivia Wilde-directed 1950s drama starring Florence Pugh, Harry Styles and Chris Pine. It's opening in more than 4,000 theaters and drew $3.1M in Thursday previews, pointing the way toward a likely $17M-$20M opening.
The film is weighed down by a near-constant stream of dramatic off-screen headlines leading up to its release and (more important) some critical pans.
As for old, Cameron and blue, that comes through a re-release of an all-time cinema champ: James Cameron's Avatar (NYSE:DIS). The 2009 film holds the record for worldwide grosses, with $2.85B. And it's coming back out for more, to start preparing audiences for the sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, due in theaters Dec. 16.
It's tricky to forecast re-releases, but as a 13-year-old movie, Avatar may have trouble surpassing last week's leader, The Woman King (NYSE:SONY), which opened to $19.1M in more than 3,700 theaters.
Cinema tickers: AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC); Cineworld; Cinemark (CNK); (IMAX); Marcus (MCS); Reading International (RDI); Cineplex (CGX:CA); National CineMedia (NCMI).