The Northman box office preview screenings cleave their way to $1.4M

The Northman, box office, Robert Eggers

Theaters are currently packed with some of the most anticipated films of the season, but Univeral‘s The Northman came out on top during Thursday night preview screenings. Robert Eggers’ Viking epic roared its way to $1.35M for its opening salvo, while Dreamworks Animation‘s The Bad Guys banked $1.15M.

Meanwhile, Nicolas Cage’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent scored $835K, including paid screenings from last weekend and previews that started after 6 PM last night. All three films received positive reviews from critics and are certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes: The Northman (89%), The Bad Guys (86%), and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (89%).

Despite the decent start to their respective runs at the box office, it’s unlikely that NorthmanBad Guys, or Unbearable will take the top spot at the box office this weekend. The crown will likely go to Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore or Sonic the Hedgehog 2, with both films expected to earn $18M-20M apiece.

Even though Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore stands a chance of taking the top spot, the threequel is a bit of a disappointment for Warner Bros. The latest – and possibly the last – film in the Harry Potter franchise faced several complications during production, and fans of the series appear to have grown tired of the Wizarding World. What WB does with what was once a money-printing franchise after such a lackluster performance remains to be seen.

Are you heading to cinemas this weekend? What do you plan on seeing? Let us know in the comments section below.

Source: Deadline

About the Author

Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He's also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You'll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.