This weekend the blockbusters make way for a pair of high-profile dramas at the box office. The Girl on the Train is based on a very popular novel, but exactly how will that translate to the big screen? While the overall numbers may not be quite as big as we're used to seeing, analysts are expecting The Girl on the Train to take the crown this weekend with totals somewhere in the mid $20 million range, significantly ahead of the other major drama The Birth of a Nation.
Since the release of Suicide Squad at the beginning of August, we haven't seen an opening weekend do better that about $35 million, and several have been in the same $20 million range that The Girl on the Train is tracking toward. The movie has the added benefit of being based on a best-selling novel, which means there's a built-in audience familiar with the story who may be interested in checking out how the book translates to the screen.
While The Hollywood Reporter doesn't say what Birth of a Nation is looking to bring in, other analysts are predicting only a number between seven and ten million dollars. This is at least a little surprising. Birth of a Nation has reviewed significantly better than Girl on the Train and has been a much talked about movie ever since it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.
The Girl on the Train follows Emily Blunt as a woman who has turned to alcohol and who's life has fallen apart. She fantasizes about a couple she sees from her daily commute on the train each day because she sees their life as the one she once had. When she sees something unexpected from her mobile vantage point one day, she takes steps that bring her into the lives of the people as well as her ex-husband and his new wife.
With a reported budget of $45 million, an opening over $20 million should get the movie a good amount of the way toward breaking even. Once international numbers are added in the movie should be profitable. While there a couple of movies coming out next weekend that should put up good box office numbers as well, including Ben Affleck's The Accountant and a stand-up comedy feature by Kevin Hart, The Girl on the Train should be good for some solid second weekend receipts since the fan base behind the novel will likely continue to come out for it.
What are your box office plans for the weekend? Will you be checking out The Girl on Train or The Birth of A Nation? Let us know in the comments below.
