The Dark Tower movie has spent the last decade dealing with various creative obstacles and leadership changes, and this Friday, fans of the book series will finally get to see the completed product. With the summer movie season wrapping up this month, The Dark Tower is one of the last blockbusters you'll be able to enjoy before we enter the fall season. So how much is The Dark Tower estimated to make domestically during August's opening weekend. Right now, somewhere between $20 million to $25 million.
This estimate is a far cry from last year's first August blockbuster, Suicide Squad, which opened at over $133 million. Admittedly, that film had the advantage of being part of the DC Extended Universe and featuring several popular comic book characters, but still, this wouldn't be a great start for The Dark Tower's U.S. run. Columbia Pictures is being even more conservative with its predictions than Variety, with the studio imagining The Dark Tower making around $19 million during that period. However, it will likely still be the financial winner of the weekend, as Detroit is currently projected to haul in between $10 million to $15 million in its wide release, and the Halle Berry-led Kidnap will make around $8 million. An Inconvenient Sequel, Wind River and Columbus will also have limited releases.
The Dark Tower's international release between now and early September will improve its numbers ideally to at least match its $60 million budget, but looks at these early domestic predictions, they don't bode well for this being a huge moneymaker. It's a shame for Columbia Pictures, because The Dark Tower's release comes a week after The Emoji Movie was trashed by critics and also underperformed financially. Throw in competition from movies that have already been out for a weekend or more, like Dunkirk and Atomic Blonde, and it's evident that The Dark Tower has its work cut out for it.
Starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, The Dark Tower follows a young boy named Jake Chambers who finds himself in another dimension called Mid-World, where Roland Deschain, a.k.a. The Gunslinger, has been trying to reach the Tower, but is challenged during his journey by Walter o'Dim, a.k.a. The Man in Black. Due to certain revelations from the original books, the movie functions as both a sequel to the series and an introduction for people who've never flipped through the original Stephen King tales. Should The Dark Tower perform critically and commercially well, a sequel will likely enter development, and according to director Nikolaj Arcel, it will be based off the novel The Drawing of the Three. There is also a Dark Tower TV series in the works that will be connected to the film franchise.
You can check out The Dark Tower for yourself starting this Friday, and check back with CinemaBlend soon to read our thoughts on the movie. Stephen King fans can also look forward to the IT theatrical adaptation being released on September 8.
