Street Fighter is currently on pace to take the top spot at the domestic box office, but its opening weekend is coming in a little lighter than Paramount originally expected.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the video game adaptation brought in $13 million on Friday, including Thursday previews, and is now projected to finish the weekend with around $31 million from 3,575 North American theaters.
Paramount had been looking for an opening in the mid-$30 million range, so the early number is coming in below that target. Even so, Street Fighter is still expected to win the weekend and finish ahead of the rest of the field.
The movie carries an $82 million budget and marks the first release under Paramount’s distribution deal with Legendary. The story centers on the fighting tournament made famous by Capcom’s video game franchise.
There is also a major WWE connection to the film. Roman Reigns plays Akuma, while Cody Rhodes appears as Guile, giving wrestling fans a couple of familiar faces in one of the weekend’s biggest releases. Ringside News previously covered Roman Reigns’ intense preparation for the Akuma role and how Cody Rhodes landed the role of Guile.
The early audience reaction has been mixed. Street Fighter earned a B- CinemaScore, while its Rotten Tomatoes numbers showed a much stronger response from general audiences than critics, with the audience score sitting at 82 percent compared to a 42 percent critic score.
Elsewhere at the box office, A24’s You Can See Everything is projected to open with around $12 million from just 855 North American locations. Other Mommy is expected to bring in roughly $7.8 million, while Whalefall is projected around $7 million and Sense and Sensibility is sitting near $6.7 million.
Street Fighter may not be landing exactly where Paramount hoped, but a projected $31 million opening is still enough to put it in first place. With Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes adding some extra WWE attention, the bigger test now is whether the movie can hold up after its opening weekend.
What do you think about Street Fighter’s early $31 million projection? Do you think the movie will have strong legs at the box office? Let us know what you think in the comments.
