‘Twisters’ Whirling To Great $72M Opening – Box Office Friday Midday Update

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UPDATE FRIDAY MIDDAY: Yeah, after preview numbers like that, there’s no way that Amblin/Universal/Warner Bros.’ Twisters is settling for a $50M+ opening. More like $72M at 4,151 theaters after a massive $31M first day including previews. By the way, that’s 76% above the start of the first 1996 movie ($41M, adjusted for inflation). This a great palette cleanser before Deadpool & Wolverine conquer the world next weekend. If those numbers stick for Twisters, that’s the 25th best domestic opening for the month of July.

That day one isn’t that far from the first day/previews of Dune: Part Two ($32.2M, 3-day $82.5M), but it’s under the first day/previews of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire ($36.8M, 3-day $80M).

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UPDATED FRIDAY AM: This beast of a storm is at $10.7M in preview cash for both Wednesday and Thursday. In terms of total preview cash, that’s more than what Legendary/Warner Bros. Godzilla x King: New Empire did ($10M), though that was made all in one night. Still, a very good tee-off here for Amblin/Universal/Warner Bros’ Twisters. The movie before P&A cost $155M.

Last night Twisters made $8M off showtimes beginning at 5PM.

Another comp here is last summer’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts which did $8.8M on its Wednesday and Thursday, and went on to do a $25.6M Friday, $61M opening.

Among regular pics in release, here’s how they shaped up for Thursday and the week:

1.) Despicable Me 4 (Uni) 4,449 theaters, Thu $5M (-12%), Wk $69.1M, Total $235.6M/Wk 2

2.) Longlegs (NEO) 2,510 theaters, Thu $2.2M (-7%), Wk $32.9M/Wk 1

3.) Inside Out 2 (Dis) 3,815 theaters, Thu $2.4M (-11%), Wk $31.7M/Total $583.5M/Wk 5

4.) A Quiet Place: Day One (Par) 3,378 theaters, Thu $1.1M (-14%), Wk $17M, Total $121.5M/Wk 3

5.) Fly Me to the Moon (App/Sony) 3,356 theaters, Thu $595K (-25%), Wk $13M/Wk 1

EXCLUSIVE: Twisters, the reboot of the 1996 Amblin feature co-written by Michael Crichton, is off to a good start with around $7M in preview money from both Wednesday night’s fan Imax/PLF showtimes and previews which began at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Reviews and audience response for the pic starring Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones is great at 78% certified fresh and 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively. That’s better than the original movie which received drab scores at 67% critics, and 58% audience. Forecasts were at a $50M+ opening, but with this movie doing business in the heartland, it would not be shocking to see it raise to $60M.

That Wednesday and Thursday preview number, if it sticks by Friday morning, would be ahead of the $6.6M Wednesday/Thursday preview sales posted in May by 20th Century Studios/Disney’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which debuted to a $22.1M Friday and 3-day of $58.4M. The difference here in case of any overperformance? Apes didn’t have heartthrob Powell.

RelishMix measured a social media universe for Twisters of 341M across TikTok, Facebook, X, YouTube and Instagram combined, which is 3% above action-adventure pic comps. Social media champs are stars Anthony Ramos at 2.5M, Edgar-Jones at 1.9M and Powell with 1.8M followers.

Warners has overseas on the film (the studio first handled domestic on the 1996 title, while Uni took foreign). Through Monday, the Lee Isaac Chung-directed title counted close to $13M from 38 markets. Another 38 are opening this week including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK and China. The overseas cume is expected to jump to $45M+.

Among the top openings for environmental disaster movies at the domestic B.O., that arguably would go to Roland Emmerich’s 2004 The Day After Tomorrow with a 3-day of $68.7M, and his 2009 ensemble 2012, which debuted to $65.2M.

Stateside estimates Thursday night are per industry estimates, not Universal.

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