According to early box office estimates (via Deadline), Blumhouse Productions and Universal Pictures’ Happy Death Day will unexpectedly reign supreme at the box office this weekend, dethroning the big-budget Blade Runner 2049 from Alcon Entertainment and Sony Pictures.
The micro-budget horror film, written by longtime X-Men comics scribe-turned-screenwriter Scott Lobdell, is expected to earn $26.5 million by Sunday night, on an estimated production budget of $5 million. Coming in second place, Blade Runner 2049 is expected to make a measly $14.3 million — down 56% from its opening weekend — bringing its domestic total to $59.8 million by the close of its sophomore weekend.
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Rounding out the top five this weekend are STX’s The Foreigner ($12.4 million), New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures’ It ($6.47 million, $315.3 million total) and The Mountain Between Us ($5.6 million, $40 million total), respectively.
CBR’s Kristy Puchko didn’t review Happy Death Day so favorably. “Regrettably, Lobdell’s horror-comedy isn’t scary or funny, boasting jump scares and jokes that might have felt fresh twenty years ago,” writes Puchko. “Happy Death Day is cluttered with messy misdirects, haphazard kill scenes, and utter nonsense.”