‘The Fall Guy’ opens with $28.5 million at box office

LOS ANGELES – “The Fall Guy” opened in first place at the box office, taking in $28.5 million this weekend to lead all films in North America, according to industry estimates released Sunday.

The action comedy stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, and is inspired by the 1980s TV series of the same name starring Lee Majors.

Image courtesy of Universal Pictures

In a bit of a surprise, second place went to a re-release of 1999’s “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace,” which took in $8 million, Comscore reported. “Challengers” was third with $7.6 million, one week after opening in
first place.

The horror film “Tarot” opened in fourth place with $6.5 million Friday through Sunday, followed by “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” which grossed $4.5 million in its sixth week.

Rounding out the top 10 domestic releases were “Civil War” ($3.5 million), “Unsung Hero” ($3 million), “Kung Fu Panda 4” ($2.4 million), “Abigail” ($2.3 million) and “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” ($1.8 million).

According to Entertainment Weekly (EW), “The Fall Guy” has arrived in theaters “with a lackluster debut,” and Variety said it “kicked off the summer movie season without much sizzle.”

While it managed to snag the No. 1 spot for the weekend, it didn’t fare much better overseas where the film earned $25.4 million bringing its global tally to $65.4 million, EW reported.

“The Fall Guy,” directed by former stuntman and “Deadpool 2” helmer David Leitch, rode into the weekend with the momentum of glowing reviews and the buzz of a SXSW premiere. But it will need sustained interest to merit its $130 million production budget.

Working in its favor for a long run: strong audience scores (an “A-” CinemaScore) and good reviews (83% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). Jim Orr, distribution chief for Universal, believes things line up well for “The Fall Guy” in the coming weeks.

“We had a very solid opening,” said Orr. “We’re looking forward to a very long, very robust, very successful run throughout the domestic box office for literally weeks if not months to come.”

But the modest start for “The Fall Guy” hints at larger concerns for the film industry. Superhero films haven’t been quite the box-office behemoth they once were, leading studios to search for fresher alternative. “The Fall Guy” seemed to check all the boxes, with extravagant action sequences, one of the hottest stars in the business, a director with a track-record for crowd pleasers and very good reviews. (With CNS report)