Critics are being absolutely unmerciful towards the latest installment of the Die Hard franchise, John Moore's A Good Day To Die Hard, but it seems that once again audiences couldn't care less. The midnight numbers for the new action flick are out, and it looks as though the movie is going to have a pretty good Valentine's Day weekend.
Deadline has posted the statistics for A Good Day To Die Hard's first night in theaters and report that the film has already pulled in $840K and is expected to finish the weekend with between $10 and $11 million, just squeaking by the new Nicholas Sparks adaptation, which is predicted to make between $9 and $10 million by Sunday. Despite not being a new release, Seth Gordon's Identity Thief is also holding strong, and is expected to place third overall after owning the box office and its competition in its first week.
But while both the new Die Hard and Safe Haven are doing well, the same can't be said for the other title that was brought to theaters last night: Richard LaGravenese's Beautiful Creatures. Despite being based on a popular novel and featuring a great cast that includes Emma Thompson, Jeremy Irons, Emmy Rossum, and Viola Davis, the film appears to be under-performing at the box office and isn't expected to open higher than number five on the top 10 come Sunday with a take of only $3 to 4 million.
These numbers mean two very different things for two very different franchises. Critics may wish that Hollywood will stop producing John McClane movies, this kind of success always leads to another sequel. Meanwhile, fans can probably erase any hope that Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl's next book in their YA series, Beautiful Darkness, will be getting an adaptation too. But that's all just the nature of the business.
