Blade Runner 2049 Box Office Falls Short of Predictions

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Blade Runner 2049's Opening Box Office Falls Short

By Adam Fitch

Published Oct 7, 2017

Blade Runner 2049 has premiered in theaters, but the opening weekend for the movie is looking rather disappointing.

Despite being one of the most talked about movies of the year (so far), Blade Runner 2049 is on track to under-perform on its opening weekend.

According to Deadline, the sequel to the 1982 sci-fi film will muster up a $32.6 million box office domestically, which is a poor start for a movie that has seen so much hype and critical acclaim. The film opened to $12.7 million on Friday, which has resulted in the forecast for the overall weekend falling from the original projection of $45 million.

Deadline's report also cites a source that claims the sequel's budget is higher than the previously reported $155 million mark, totaling around $170 million instead. If this proves to be the case, the movie will need to make over $300 million worldwide simply to break even. Either way, Sony is likely disappointed with the early performance of the movie, which faithfully continues the story from the '80s cult classic.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve (Arrival) from a script by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, Blade Runner 2049 stars Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Robin Wright, Jared Leto, Barkhad Abdi, Lennie James, Mackenzie Davis and Sylvia Hoeks. Executive produced by Ridley Scott, the film is in theaters now.