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“Terminator: Dark Fate,” the latest installment in the franchise starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton, is expected to lead the U.S. box office this weekend, replacing “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” and “Joker.”
Box Office Mojo is expecting the film, the sixth in a now 35-year old franchise, to rake in $38 million to $41 million in receipts, although industry estimates range as high as $47 million.
Still, the film, made by Viacom’s VIA, +2.01% Paramount, is for now trending behind sci-fi rivals “Blade Runner 2049” and Star Trek “Beyond, as well as Terminator Genisys, the most recent installment of the franchise that was released in 2015, according to Box Office Mojo.
“Blade Runner 2049” took in $32.7 million in its opening weekend in 2017, while “Star Trek Beyond” grossed $59.2 million in 2016. The last Terminator film grossed a more modest $27 million in its opening weekend.
If the film succeeds in attaining the $47 million estimate, it would exceed the $44 million gross that “Terminator 3” grossed in its opening weekend back in 2003, making it the biggest domestic opening for a Terminator film.
The film has a 70% score from Rotten Tomatoes, though the film-rating site’s critics called it “a significant upgrade over its immediate predecessors, even if it lacks the thrilling firepower of the franchise’s best installments.”
See: ‘Joker,’ the top-grossing R-rated movie ever, regains No. 1 spot at box office
The weekend will also see the release of “Harriet,” a biopic of Harriet Tubman, the American abolitionist and political activist who is credited with helping about 70 people escape slavery using a network of safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. The film stars Cynthia Erivo in the starring role and is expected to take $7.5 million to $9.0 million in receipts in its opening weekend.
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“Harriet”, made by Comcast’s CMCSA, -0.45% Focus Features has a 73% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
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Also coming this weekend is “Motherless Brooklyn,” an adaptation of Jonathan Lethem’s award-winning novel directed by and starring Edward Norton, along with Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Alec Baldwin. The film, which opens in just 1,332 theaters, is expected to garner about $2.5 million in receipts in its opening weekend. The film, made by Warner Bros. T, +1.06% has a 65% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
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