Can ‘The Dark Tower’ Win the Weekend Box Office Battle?

With just two films opening to wide release this weekend, and both with less than stellar scores at Rotten Tomatoes, the lackluster summer of 2017 looks set to continue its rather humdrum showing.

Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) is releasing “The Dark Tower” on 3,451 screens, while privately held Aviron Pictures is debuting “Kidnap” (2017) on 2,378 screens. The former has a 20% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes and the latter a 39% Fresh rating. Neither score suggests a critical smash.

A third film going to wide release after a limited release last weekend is “Detroit,” showing on 3,007 screens. The film has an 89% Fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes and is being released by Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures.

“The Dark Tower” is based on a Stephen King novel and stars Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey. The film’s production budget was $60 million, according to Box Office Mojo, and the studio expects the film to pull in about $19 million on its opening weekend. Box Office Mojo thinks the total could go as high as $24 million.

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“Dunkirk,” now at its third weekend, is forecast to haul in more than $16 million as it expands to more than 4,000 U.S. screens. If the Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) Warner Bros. film lives up to expectations, cumulative receipts will reach $130 million in domestic ticket sales and $150 million in international sales after this weekend. If the film does a bit better than expected and “The Dark Tower” does worse than the studio expects, “Dunkirk” could rise to the top.

“Kidnap (2017)” stars Halle Berry and is tagged at Box Office Mojo for an opening weekend in the single digits. The film’s production budget is unavailable. Berry is also one of the film’s producers.

Finally, “Detroit,” from Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow (two for “The Hurt Locker” as Best Picture and Best Director), stars John Boyega and Will Poulter in a film about the Detroit riots of 1967. The film’s production budget was $34 million and last week’s limited release (20 theaters) drew receipts of $350,000, for an average of $17,500 per screen.

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If that average were to hold for all 3,007 screens this weekend, the film would rake in $52.5 million. That’s not likely — “Dunkirk” averaged about $13,500 per screen on its opening weekend — but the film could challenge “Dunkirk” for the runner-up spot in the weekend box office horse race. Box Office Mojo tabs the film for weekend box office receipts of around $12.5 million but said that $14 million is not unthinkable.

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