M. Night Shymalan's Old and Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins entered the box office race in Thursday night previews last night and it's a pretty tight race as we head into the weekend.
Old pulled slightly ahead of Snake Eyes with a gross of $1.5 million from showtimes that began at 7:00 PM last night at 2,750 locations. Snake Eyes was close behind with a gross of $1.4 million from showtimes that also started at 7:00 PM at 2,662 locations. Both films are playing exclusively in theaters and id not have a simultaneous streaming launch.
Old will expand to 3,355 locations today while Snake Eyes increases to 3,521 locations. For comparison's sake, Old came out ahead of other recent horror films in Thursday night previews like Escape Room: Tournament of Champions ($1.2 million) and The Forever Purge ($1.33 million). In terms of Shymalan preview nights, the preview number is ahead of The Visit ($1 million) but behind the previews for Split ($2 million) and Glass ($3.7 million). As for Snake Eyes, 2009's G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra opened to $2.3 million in Thursday previews but that film, along with some of the previous Shymalan efforts, came out during a much healthier time at the box. So who comes out on top this weekend?
It's really hard to tell who is going to be the box office champion between the two. Horror has played pretty well during the pandemic-era box office with A Quiet Place Part II, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, and The Forever Purge all doing well in their own right. That being said, Shymalan can be very polarizing and the early response to Old has been very mixed. The film is currently 56% rotten on Rotten Tomatoes and if you browse social media, you will find people that love it and hate it so far. The performance of Old will be determined by word of mouth this weekend.
I think Snake Eyes is slightly in a better position because the film is most appealing to the teenage boy crowd and they could care less about its 40% rotten rating on Rotten tomatoes. Hardcore G.I. Joe fans may stay away but they could be curious to see if they did a better job than they did with the previous two live-action adaptations of the brand. Rise of Cobra was rotten at 34% while G.I. Joe: Retaliation came in at 29% rotten so Snake Eyes at least has slightly better reviews on its side.
When it's all said and down, it will be a really tight race between Old, Snake Eyes and the second weekend of Space Jam: A New Legacy for the top spot. Who do YOU think will prevail?