Split was something of a surprise hit when it hit theaters a couple of years ago, grossing nearly $300 million around the world. That success spawned this weekend's follow-up Glass which is set to take the stage Friday. When it does, it's expected to perform very well, bringing in somewhere in the neighborhood of $105 million globally over the course of the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.
Glass was tracking to bring in something north of $70 million a few weeks ago and while Deadline now thinks that number will be closer to $60 million, with the additional global business the movie is still expected to break the $100 million threshold over the long weekend, doing more than a third of what Split did in just a few days.
Since Glass reportedly only cost $20 million to produce. This opening is great news for Blumhouse and Universal, as it makes the film an instant success financially speaking.
Even the lower expectations for Glass domestically are well above the $40 million that Split brought in during its 2017 opening weekend. Part of that increase is certainly due to the fact that these estimates are looking at a four-day spread, taking the Monday holiday into account, but Glass is still tracking well ahead of its predecessor.
This is likely because Split 's big twist, that it was taking place in the same world as M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable, wasn't widely known going into opening weekend. Split's success came largely from word of mouth, giving the film several weeks of consistent success rather than a massive opening weekend.
The fact that Glass will conclude this story means it is much more likely to see a big opening as fans of the two previous films hit the theater to see how it all ends. Whether or not Glass is able to emulate the box office consistency of Split remains to be seen.
Glass hasn't seen glowing early reviews but that sort of thing rarely dissuades an audience that's invested enough in a movie. The passionate fans will show up anyway on opening weekend and make their own decisions as to the film's quality. Clearly, there was an expectation that the movie would open strong as there are no other major releases set to open this Friday.
While M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable might not be one of the biggest brands in film, it still has its fans and many have wanted to see a sequel for the 19 years that have passed since it opened. Glass is really the true sequel that people have been waiting for since Split didn't include Samuel L. Jackson's Mr. Glass and gave Bruce Willis' David Dunn only a brief cameo.
Glass opens Friday.
