R-rated comedy '
The Spy Who Dumped Me' and pro-Trump documentary '
Death of a Nation' are also opening nationwide.
In the showdown between
Tom Cruise and
Winnie the Pooh at the
box office, Cruise appears to be winning.
Paramount's
Mission: Impossible — Fallout is pacing to gross $30 million or more in its second weekend, while Disney's new family offering,
Christopher Robin — inspired by the classic children's tale Winnie the Pooh — is projected to earn $25 million-$30 million in its domestic debut, according to early Friday returns. Numbers, of course, could shift as the weekend unfolds.
Christopher Robin started off Thursday night with $1.5 million in previews. Prerelease tracking showed the live-action/CGI hybrid opening to $28 million or more, with many services predicting $30 million-plus.
The late-summer Disney movie, directed by Marc Forster, stars Ewan McGregor as an overworked and stressed-out adult Christopher Robin, who has lost touch with his imagination. All that changes when his childhood friends — Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger and the rest of the gang — magically emerge from the Hundred Acre Wood.
Several other films are also set to open nationwide, including Lionsgate and Imagine Entertainment's The Spy Who Dumped Me. Directed by Susanna Fogel, the R-rated action-comedy starring Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon earned $950,000 in Thursday-evening previews for a projected debut between $11 million and $13 million. (The comedy genre continues to be challenging at the box office.)
The story follows two friends who become entangled in an international conspiracy when one of the women discovers that her ex-boyfriend is a spy. Justin Theroux, Gillian Anderson, Hasan Minhaj, Ivanna Sakhno and Sam Heughan co-star.
For the first time since Deadpool 2 in mid-May, Fox enters the box-office fray with the YA film adaptation The Darkest Minds, directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, the acclaimed helmer of the last two Kung Fu Panda movies. The film grossed $550,000 in previews and a muted debut in the $6 million-$8 million range is expected.
The story follows a group of teens who mysteriously develop new abilities and are detained and declared a threat by the government. Sixteen-year-old Ruby (Amandla Stenberg) escapes and joins a growing resistance with other teens. Mandy Moore, Bradley Whitford, Harris Dickinson, Patrick Gibson, Skylan Brooks, Miya Cech and Gwendoline Christie also star.
The fourth pic opening nationwide is the pro-Trump documentary Death of a Nation, from controversial conservative filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza, who was pardoned earlier this year by President Donald Trump after pleading guilty to violating campaign finance laws. Predictions are tough, as the doc — an unabashed screed against Democrats — is launching in far fewer theaters (1,005 locations) this weekend than the other releases.
D'Souza's last doc, Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party, grossed $4 million when expanding into a total of 1,217 theaters in its second weekend after first debuting in three theaters. Death of a Nation looks to earn $2 million-$4 million (the doc presently has a 0 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes).