Gran Turismo Box Office Tops With $17.3M Opening

Box Office: ‘Gran Turismo’ Declares Victory Over ‘Barbie’ with $17.3M Opening

This week saw “Barbie” from Warner Bros. achieving a major victory over Universal Pictures’ “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” as the highest-grossing domestic release of 2023.

The weekend’s box office race was claimed by Sony’s late-summer event film “Gran Turismo,” which secured a $17.3 million domestic opening. This start, somewhat subdued for a movie based on a popular video game, has left hopes pinned on an A CinemaScore from audiences to provide a potential boost in the coming days.

Throughout its historic theatrical run, “Barbie” has shattered numerous records. It debuted as the highest domestic opener of 2023 and holds the record for the largest North American launch ever for a film directed by a woman. “Super Mario,” which came out in April, reached its peak at $574.3 million in the United States and Canada earlier this year.

Directed by Neill Blomkamp, “Gran Turismo” debuted at the top of the domestic box office this weekend with a $17.3 million opening. Meanwhile, Warner Bros.’ “Blue Beetle” slipped to third place, amassing $12.8 million in its second weekend, bringing its North American total to $46.3 million. This came after “Barbie” lost its number one position last week.

“Gran Turismo” features Archie Madekwe as a young gamer who transforms into a professional race-car driver with the support of a failed former racer (David Harbour) and an ambitious motorsport executive (Orlando Bloom). The cast also includes Darren Barnet, Geri Halliwell Horner, and Djimon Hounsou.

Based on the true story of an English gamer who achieved racing success after playing the popular game of the same name, “Gran Turismo” received a lukewarm 60% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an A grade from CinemaScore’s polled audiences.

According to film critic Katie Walsh of Tribune News Service, “‘Gran Turismo’ truly excels as a piece of high-energy, thrilling entertainment.” She further noted that the audience is strongly engaged, especially when Madekwe’s character climbs the ranks.

“Gran Turismo,” which reportedly cost around $60 million to produce, exceeded initial box office predictions, which ranged from $10 million to $12 million in the United States and Canada. However, it’s important to mention that the movie’s Friday sales were significantly boosted by a nine-day preview period during which select audiences had access to advance screenings.

There has been a debate around whether Sony’s inclusion of nine days of preview admissions in “Gran Turismo’s” Friday total is fair. Warner Bros. has expressed that Sony’s approach is questionable, but including advance screenings in weekend totals is customary in the industry.

Drawing parallels to another racing film, “Ford v Ferrari,” released by 20th Century Studios, “Gran Turismo” has also surpassed expectations, launching at $30 million in November 2019. However, this was before the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes that disrupted Hollywood. Sony had to delay the release of “Gran Turismo” by two weeks due to the work stoppage.

The box office results of this weekend were also influenced by National Cinema Day, during which movie tickets were priced at $4 in many theaters across the United States.

As per Comscore, “Barbie” is predicted to dominate National Cinema Day, with thrifty moviegoers taking advantage of the discounted tickets. This is anticipated to result in “Barbie” earning significantly more on Sunday compared to Friday or Saturday, despite the lowered prices.

In essence, Warner Bros. and Greta Gerwig’s mega-blockbuster “Barbie,” which has now garnered an estimated $594.9 million domestically, would have certainly secured the top spot for the weekend. Saturday estimates indicated that “Barbie” earned $15.7 million from 3,736 locations in its sixth weekend, but Warner Bros. increased that figure to $17.1 million by Sunday morning. (The “Barbie” team expressed dissatisfaction regarding the situation with “Gran Turismo.”)

Internationally, “Gran Turismo” added $36.5 million to its foreign earnings from 61 markets, resulting in an early global total of $53.8 million. Meanwhile, “Barbie” earned an additional $18.2 million from 75 markets, bringing its foreign total to $745.5 million and an impressive global total of $1.34 billion.

Taking the third spot in North America, DC’s “Blue Beetle” earned an estimated $12.8 million from 3,871 locations in its second week, accumulating a domestic total of $46.3 million. If these estimates hold, it signifies a decline of only 49 percent. Internationally, the superhero film garnered an extra $10 million from 70 markets, leading to a foreign total of $35.5 million and a somewhat disappointing global sum of $81.8 million.

Landing at No. 8 is “Retribution,” the latest action film from Liam Neeson, distributed by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions. It earned an estimated $3.3 million from 1,750 theaters, aligning with the already reduced expectations. The film might make up ground through premium VOD, although it received a C CinemaScore from audiences.

“Inspirational sports drama “The Hill,” starring Dennis Quaid and distributed by Briarcliff/Open Road, made its debut in 1,570 locations, amassing an estimated $2.5 million.

The specialty film “Golda,” featuring Helen Mirren as former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir and distributed by Bleecker Street, is aiming to earn $2 million despite being shown in significantly fewer theaters compared to “The Hill,” with a count of 883 locations.

In the realm of specialty box office releases, “Bottoms,” a critically acclaimed teen sex comedy directed by Emma Seligman and distributed by MGM and Amazon, had an impressive start in 10 locations. The film achieved a weekend location average of $51,600, the highest average for a film debuting in 10 locations since the time before the pandemic.

The marquee featured several notable re-releases timed with National Cinema Day, including “Jurassic Park” and “American Graffiti.” “Jurassic Park” brought in an estimated $1.7 million.

Next weekend, Columbia Pictures will release “The Equalizer 3” in wide distribution.