Predator: Badlands has scored largely very positive reviews (it's "Certified Fresh" at 85% on Rotten Tomatoes), but now moviegoers are weighing in on filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg's latest addition to the franchise.
With an A- CinemaScore, Predator: Badlands has been awarded a grade that's a franchise best, and on par with Dune. As per usual, we'll remind you that CinemaScore is a market research firm that surveys audience reactions to newly released movies.
After attending opening night screenings, moviegoers rate films on an A+ to F scale, providing insights into audience satisfaction. Widely used in the film industry, CinemaScore helps gauge the initial reception of movies and influences box office predictions based on audience feedback.
Predator: Badlands' A- beats Predator (B+), Predator 2 (B+), Alien vs. Predator (B), Alien vs. Predator: Requiem (C), Predators (C+), and The Predator (C+).
This positive word of mouth—the movie has 96% on the fan-generated Popcornmeter—appears to have given Predator: Badlands a boost at the box office, too. Deadline (via SFFGazette.com) reveals that a $14 million Friday puts it on track for an impressive $33 million opening weekend in North America. That's well above those initial $25 million estimates.
These numbers will remind you of TRON: Ares $14.4 million Friday and $33.2 million start, but here's the main difference: Predator: Badlands cost 52% less to produce than the $220 million Jared Leto-led flop.
"I have a pretty good idea of where things could go, but at the same time have been trying hard to not make decisions based on that," Trachtenberg recently told io9 of his wider Predator plans. "Because truly, as you know, you’ve got to make one damn good movie at a time."
"So I was really trying very hard to just make sure I’m not hurting this movie by thinking of where things could go next, and [making] sure this is a great movie, and should we do anything else, I will think about it the exact same way," he added.
Predator: Badlands, which stars Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, is set in the future on a remote planet, where a young Predator (Schuster-Koloamatangi), outcast from his clan, finds an unlikely ally in Thia (Fanning) and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary.
Dan Trachtenberg directs and produces Predator: Badlands alongside John Davis, Marc Toberoff, Ben Rosenblatt, and Brent O’Connor.
Predator: Badlands is now playing in movie theaters in IMAX, Dolby Cinema, Cinemark XD, 4DX, ScreenX, and premium screens everywhere.