‘It Ends With Us’ Earns $50M, ‘Borderlands’ Disappoints with $8.8M Opening

Colleen Hoover’s literary sensation “It Ends With Us” has now become a box office hit.

A film adaptation of her 2016 novel, starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni (who also directed), has amassed an impressive $50 million from 3,611 locations in its opening weekend. This is a significant achievement for the Sony Pictures movie, which was produced for $25 million. “It Ends With Us” follows the story of Lily Bloom (Lively), a small business owner entangled in a love triangle with a charming yet abusive neurosurgeon, Ryle (Baldoni), and her first love, Atlas (Brandon Sklenar). Despite mixed reviews from critics, audiences have shown strong support for the PG-13 romantic drama, earning it an “A-” on CinemaScore.

David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, described the film’s debut as sensational for a dramatic romance. “Pure romance typically underperforms at the box office, but occasionally the right story, based on the right book, and featuring a well-cast female lead catches fire. That’s the case here.”

However, “It Ends With Us” narrowly missed the top spot, which went to “Deadpool & Wolverine.” Starring Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, the Marvel superhero film added approximately $55 million from 4,330 screens in its third weekend, leading the box office for the third consecutive week and earning a massive $494 million domestically.

Another new release, Lionsgate’s “Borderlands” adaptation starring Cate Blanchett, fell flat with just $8.8 million from 3,125 theaters. The film placed fourth, behind “Twisters,” which added $15.4 million from 3,664 locations in its fourth weekend and has accumulated $222 million domestically.

Despite covering nearly 60% of its production costs through international pre-sales, “Borderlands” still performed poorly, far below already low expectations. With a production budget around $115 million plus $30 million in marketing and distribution, the film’s disappointing debut is notable. The movie, directed by Eli Roth, follows Lilith (Blanchett), an infamous outlaw returning to her home planet Pandora to find the missing daughter of Atlas. The star-studded cast includes Jack Black, Edgar Ramírez, Ariana Greenblatt, and Jamie Lee Curtis. It received a 10% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a “D+” CinemaScore, making it one of the year’s worst-reviewed films.

David A. Gross commented on this result, stating, “It’s a total miss. If an action comedy is to succeed, it needs to be funny, and almost no one found this film amusing.”

Meanwhile, Neon’s low-budget horror film “Cuckoo” earned $3 million from 1,503 theaters during its debut weekend. Starring Hunter Schafer (of “Euphoria” fame), the movie follows a teenager who moves to the German Alps to live with her father but encounters disturbing events. The film was produced for $7 million.

In a limited release, A24’s drama “Sing Sing” added $226,965 from screenings in 39 major U.S. markets. The film features newly minted Oscar nominee Colman Domingo and is based on the real Rehabilitation Through the Arts program at the Sing Sing maximum security prison. It is set to expand its screen count throughout August.

More to come…

Source: Variety