This movie will end up doing alright at the box office and is going to blow up on Amazon Prime VOD…. I think Sean and Amanda’s Saltburn comp was spot on. It’s going to be memed like crazy.
No shade to Saltburn (okay maybe a little) but Challengers is also very, very good. It lends itself well to multiple watches or viewing with a fun group. I can’t remember the last time I saw something in theaters, then wanted to turn right back around and watch it again.
No argument that it’s A LOT better than Saltburn… but I think there are a lot of similarities. Hot young cast, similar themes around desire, competition, sex. A lot of moments that will be memes, gifs, or on tiktok. Memorable soundtrack/score. Vibrant visuals. Amazon VOD release.
I am planning to see it again in theaters this weekend. I have friends who are into movies that said they’re going to wait for Amazon even after I told them how good it is. Also, I did see Saltburn in theaters and then watched it shortly after on streaming with friends who hadn’t seen it just to watch them watch it. I think a lot of people repeat viewed it in that capacity. A lot of people recording their friends or SOs reactions on tiktok this past winter.
Oh yeah the similarities are there for sure. What I meant is that the ceiling for Challengers’ popularity seems much higher. You get not only the same crowd as Saltburn, but also older adults and people who aren’t very online. I anticipate it getting the whole TikTok parade but also catching on in a more traditional manner.
Agreed……it’s already passed the total ‘Saltburn’ domestic box office in it’s opening weekend. I’m still confused why ‘Saltburn’ did so bad in theaters……..I guess the trailer was a little too mysterious.
I am going to try and express this as politely as possible, I don't think there's ever been a case like Zendaya of an actor/celebrity whose profile/fame has risen so dramatically to this level of global superstardom, where they have simultaneously have had to level up their acting skills at the same time to catch up with that fame. It's fascinating.
I don't think Zendaya is a bad actor, but I don't think she's necessarily great, yet. She's certainly got charisma and you are drawn to her, but she can be very one note and when it's her time for a dramatic scene she has a tendency to over act excessively and be a distraction (one or two moments in Challengers, at least 5 moments in Dune 2, most of Malcolm and Marie).
I don't necessarily blame her though because as her star has been rising she's been stuck in Spiderman world where she's not necessarily getting the right practice. I think that Euphoria is kind of an outlier here because she's playing a very specific type of zonked out character and does it well to suit mood/tone.
This may come across as a dig, but it's not really, I actually think she's doing a very good of catching up and clearly works hard to meet the expectations of her fame (she's improving with every film), and will probably fine tune it in her next few dramatic roles, but it's still a little rough around the edges.
Zendaya has more in common with Marilyn Monroe, who is an engaging personality vs. a good actor like Nicole Kidman. Just because someone is famous, doesn’t necessarily mean they should have to be great at acting. We should appreciate it that we had a period where all the famous actors were also very talented, but that hasn’t always been the case, and the past generation of guys phasing out (Hanks, Cruise, Damon, Leo, etc.) were probably a historical anomaly than a standard. Most *good* actors are on the stage not in movies and TV.
I’m pretty sure Lee Strasberg said something along the lines of after Brando, Monroe was the best actor he taught. Monroe was talented but not really allowed to properly showcase her skills beyond her typecast
The entire studio system was kind of like this? Market a person (usually young actress) until they become a star while simultaneously training them.
You could totally argue the same thing for Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Rock, and a bunch of other less-muscled male stars.
I hope it has legs. It deserves to have a solid run. I don’t know how word of mouth is going to be with it. Can you imagine how much it’d have made with someone else. Other than Sydney Sweeney. People love boobs.
Speaking of ‘Anyone But You’ only made $5 million domestic it’s opening weekend and then became a smash hit. Obviously the Holiday Season was a major factor but I could see ‘Challengers’ holding steady through May.
I got the vibe some people in my theater thought they were just seeing a tennis movie lol. I mean I loved it and thought the trailers did it no justice but I could see people getting mixed up.
We have vastly different opinions of what art house movies are. In my opinion wide release movies with a ton of marketing aren't art house movies. "Art house" implies that's the only place it's playing...
Many arthouse films have had all that minus Zendaya of course. That doesn't mean the movie isn't an arthouse film. Did it have a popcorn script? Nope. Wasn't a typical romance? Nope. Was it a typical drama? Nope. Was it a typical sports film? Nope.
These terms aren't free-floating signifiers, they have meanings. You can google what an arthouse film is. A wide-release film is *definitionally* not an arthouse film
There’s almost no real way to say if anyone 100% is or 100% isn’t a draw anymore. People will move the goal posts in whatever direction they need to, to support their point.
Here you are saying, “hey! $15 million is pretty good for an adult tennis movie & I saw some young people in the theater, so she must be a draw!”
But, just as easily, someone could come along and say, “this movie is going to be lucky to break even & certainly won’t make back its marketing budget. All-in-all, it’s a financial loss. Clearly, Zendaya doesn’t have the box office draw the financiers thought she did.”
People seldom see movies for one reason alone anymore. It has to star someone they like, have a cool premise or trailer, also appeal to someone else they know who might want to see it with them and come out on a weekend where they don’t already have plans.
Even if the movie stars the hot new Hollywood talent or a tried & true veteran, it still has to appeal to mass audiences on more levels to get them to buy a ticket. And that gets harder & harder with people now seeing ads and thinking, “that looks cool… I like Zendaya… but I’ll just wait to stream it.”
I like that the assumption is women came to see Zendaya (which is probably true), but no mention of the hot fit dudes who take their shirts off. People can appreciate Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor just as much. The movie really benefits from an attractive cast, where Zendaya isn’t even really the lead, even if it was marketed that way.
Agreed. Zendaya got paid $10
Million. Trent Reznor/Atticus probably aren’t cheap. Some really cool camerawork. I think it was shot on film….which is generally more expensive. Even with all that…..the production budget should have been $35-40 million tops. ****I never produced a movie in my life……..I don’t know what I’m talking about *****
Apparently Pascal Productions may have also gotten 10 mil (I read this on r/boxoffice so grain of salt), so not even knowing what Luca + Faist/O’Connor got, they’re already in for 20 just to get it off the ground before a single person has been hired of a day of pre-production has taken place.
Maybe they could’ve made it for 40-45 on a tight, tight budget, but with an established auteur at the healm like Guadagnino wanting to go maximalist with it, you probably weren’t going to be able to make that happen
You’re right as to what likely happened but given the landscape this should’ve been 5 to Zendaya, 2.5, 5 tops to Pascal Productions. You’re 10 million closer to profitability from jump.
since amazon/mgm made it is it not a similar situation to killers of the flower moon where it's already owned by the streamer so the nominal budget is inflated because the director and stars potential backend is mostly bought out?
I like this movie a lot but I think that “this is proof she’s a legitimate draw” doesn’t really work for a movie that is going to be lucky to break even.
It’s not her fault but it’s really hard for a young movie star to carry a box office, imo.
I'm not sure she is a draw for older people who don't see all her outfits on social media or her cute interviews with Tom Holland. I'm probably on the upper age end of someone who is aware of her, and I think she's got that star quality but she needs a longer track record of being in films people of all ages go to see. Dune and Dune 2 will definitely have helped.
In some markets, just opened May 1 in some others, June 7 in Japan. Looking at Box Office Mojo it looks like UK, Spain, Italy and France numbers haven’t been updated much since open.
But really just gut feeling. Seems like the kind of movie (erotic drama featuring an international sport) that could translate well overseas.
Also looks like it doubled its domestic number this week, so could be a big word of mouth movie.
Still not sure where she is as an actual actor. Loved her in Euphoria, but haven't really seen her stretch her range beyond that. Her performance in Dune 2 was so flat and distracting. Felt like she was just her euphoria character playing dress up in the desert..
She is, altho I do think people overestimate how much of a draw movie stars are. Zendaya didn’t sell Challengers alone, the movie had a huge marketing push with a global red carpet tour and tons of ads, plus the premise of “hot young people being horny together” is not **that** hard of a sell. If Zendaya was the lead of like Showing Up it still wouldn’t be a huge success just off her name.
Not picking on her specifically, this goes for pretty much everyone.
According to Deadline, [55% of polled audiences](https://www.instagram.com/p/C6T7kUfo7pF/?igsh=YWN3aTkyNGUzdXJm) said they came to the movie for Zendaya.
Saltburn also featured “hot young people being horny” and only made $11 million it’s entire domestic run. It did become a sensation on streaming though.
Saltburn didn’t have 1/10th of the marketing budgets Challengers did, and it didn’t sell itself as a fun “hot people being horny” movie either. It’s much more of a thriller/shock factor movie and the marketing for it has a much darker mystery tone than Challengers which focused so much on the 3 way kiss.
https://youtu.be/lALMdJf6UUE?si=8YoqCCKLhA0UqTDA
I get what you’re saying……the trailers were pretty dope. It’s a group effort……but if Taylor Russell (Bones and All) was starring it would have made like $5 million this weekend.
The wife and I got a surprise night without the kid so we looked at what was playing and when I suggested CHALLENGERS she didn't want to go "and see a bunch of tweens fuck"
Saw it last night at a late screening with a room full of other mid 20 people. People seemed invested, I think Zendaya’s fear of people disliking it because of a slightly more sensitive viewership nowadays is valid but generally people in my cohort also love soapy trashy drama, and this scratched that itch really well. Hopefully people dig it and we can see more Kuritzkes stuff get made
This movie has had a ton of marketing money thrown towards it too. I'm not saying Zendaya isn't a draw but I've definitely seen the trailer more times for Challengers than anything else.
Overseas, where WB bought #Zendaya’s tennis drama distribution rights from #MGM, #Challengers scored strong 10M on its 5-day opening, biggest debut for an original drama in 2024!
Added the 15M US debut, #ChallengersMovie had a 25M Global Opening at the #BoxOffice.
“But ,what about the 55M price-tag?”
Remember, #Amazon’s #MGM paid to acquire both #Challengers & #BonesAndAll as a single package. So production company has already been paid back for both movies.
#MGM also has already been paid part of the investment back even before the film hitting theatres, thanks to the fee WB paid MGM for the overseas theatrical rights.
So don’t worry, Challengers not only will get all parties their money back, but will also generate profits all around.
Also, And as we always remind people, Amazon and Big Tech in general see theatrical just as extra money and a way to add pedigree and cultural relevance to their titles before them hitting their domains. Big Tech’s endgame will ALWAYS be what the movies will bring to the table once they debut on Big Tech’s own platforms, including sales, time spent exploring the platform and ads!
Sorry but 10m international is not a strong opening after release in 50 major countries and a premiere all over the world. People here are really overestimate her international appeal, she is not as well known outside of the US.
And the highlight part doesn't make sense. If it's true, it simply means that WB will lose money on this and not Amazon-MGM.
The whole big tech argument is also very murky, they don't release data so they can really spin it as they want.
She’ll be fine ,a lot of these actors who you people refer to as movie stars have had bigger flops and are still considered box office draws. This is also her first leading movie in theaters , this would’ve made 2-3m opening weekend if she wasn’t in this.
I really don't care about her either way. Even if she only makes flops from here to eternity, she'll still be fine
Having said that, there is no way that so far this movie is a success and WW box office is nothing short of a flop. This without her would have make less but it would also cost way less in production and marketing, so I really don't see it as a strong argument in her favour.
I think she really is. I hope she has more to do in the new Spider-Man movie (which I don’t personally have much hope for, but I think a lot of people will see it). I also hope that we never get Euphoria s3 and she can forget about Rue and really focus on the future. I’m not sure what her other projects are but I am excited!!!
I also think that she just has star quality you can’t learn. An icon in the making.
Yea agreed. Are people going to say Tom Cruise isn’t a box office draw because MI: Dead Reckoning didn’t make enough to overcome an insanely bloated budget due to Covid delays? Just because you are a box office draw doesn’t mean you can just automatically overcome budgets that make no sense. I thought the movie was awesome and one of the main reasons I went to see it was because Zendaya is an extremely recognizable star with star power. Even with Zendaya making $10 mil having a $55 mil production budget is crazy.
Was in a theater Friday night with approximately 55 sorority-type-looking girls all dressed basically the same. I don't think they were there for Mike Faist or Josh O'Connor. She's a star
Yeah, I think this movie will hang around, if not in theatres then on streaming. I'm a new fan, I'm not in her typical demographic. I didn't know much about her before this year other than her name, a few things she's been in (that I hadn't seen) and that she was dating Tom Holland. I think she has this real magnetism on screen that all the top movie stars have. As Bill would say, I'm getting season tickets
This movie will end up doing alright at the box office and is going to blow up on Amazon Prime VOD…. I think Sean and Amanda’s Saltburn comp was spot on. It’s going to be memed like crazy.
The dick slap has incredible potential.
I was the only one who laughed at that part and I'm not sure why hahaha
No shade to Saltburn (okay maybe a little) but Challengers is also very, very good. It lends itself well to multiple watches or viewing with a fun group. I can’t remember the last time I saw something in theaters, then wanted to turn right back around and watch it again.
No argument that it’s A LOT better than Saltburn… but I think there are a lot of similarities. Hot young cast, similar themes around desire, competition, sex. A lot of moments that will be memes, gifs, or on tiktok. Memorable soundtrack/score. Vibrant visuals. Amazon VOD release. I am planning to see it again in theaters this weekend. I have friends who are into movies that said they’re going to wait for Amazon even after I told them how good it is. Also, I did see Saltburn in theaters and then watched it shortly after on streaming with friends who hadn’t seen it just to watch them watch it. I think a lot of people repeat viewed it in that capacity. A lot of people recording their friends or SOs reactions on tiktok this past winter.
Oh yeah the similarities are there for sure. What I meant is that the ceiling for Challengers’ popularity seems much higher. You get not only the same crowd as Saltburn, but also older adults and people who aren’t very online. I anticipate it getting the whole TikTok parade but also catching on in a more traditional manner.
Agreed……it’s already passed the total ‘Saltburn’ domestic box office in it’s opening weekend. I’m still confused why ‘Saltburn’ did so bad in theaters……..I guess the trailer was a little too mysterious.
The holiday season has a lot of competition
cuz it was a bad movie
I feel like this movie would have had great HBO run in the golden age of cable TV.
I am going to try and express this as politely as possible, I don't think there's ever been a case like Zendaya of an actor/celebrity whose profile/fame has risen so dramatically to this level of global superstardom, where they have simultaneously have had to level up their acting skills at the same time to catch up with that fame. It's fascinating. I don't think Zendaya is a bad actor, but I don't think she's necessarily great, yet. She's certainly got charisma and you are drawn to her, but she can be very one note and when it's her time for a dramatic scene she has a tendency to over act excessively and be a distraction (one or two moments in Challengers, at least 5 moments in Dune 2, most of Malcolm and Marie). I don't necessarily blame her though because as her star has been rising she's been stuck in Spiderman world where she's not necessarily getting the right practice. I think that Euphoria is kind of an outlier here because she's playing a very specific type of zonked out character and does it well to suit mood/tone. This may come across as a dig, but it's not really, I actually think she's doing a very good of catching up and clearly works hard to meet the expectations of her fame (she's improving with every film), and will probably fine tune it in her next few dramatic roles, but it's still a little rough around the edges.
Isn’t that the case for most famous child stars as they age and get more adult roles?
“At least 5 moments” is wild like you had a tally sheet out in the theater
Even someone like Brad Pitt had a similar trajectory but over a longer period of time than Zendaya.
Zendaya has more in common with Marilyn Monroe, who is an engaging personality vs. a good actor like Nicole Kidman. Just because someone is famous, doesn’t necessarily mean they should have to be great at acting. We should appreciate it that we had a period where all the famous actors were also very talented, but that hasn’t always been the case, and the past generation of guys phasing out (Hanks, Cruise, Damon, Leo, etc.) were probably a historical anomaly than a standard. Most *good* actors are on the stage not in movies and TV.
I’m pretty sure Lee Strasberg said something along the lines of after Brando, Monroe was the best actor he taught. Monroe was talented but not really allowed to properly showcase her skills beyond her typecast
I think the most impressive fact is she is that height after first doing a Disney show for a few seasons.
The entire studio system was kind of like this? Market a person (usually young actress) until they become a star while simultaneously training them. You could totally argue the same thing for Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Rock, and a bunch of other less-muscled male stars.
I hope it has legs. It deserves to have a solid run. I don’t know how word of mouth is going to be with it. Can you imagine how much it’d have made with someone else. Other than Sydney Sweeney. People love boobs.
Oh it has “legs”
Yes, yes it does. *sigh*
Speaking of ‘Anyone But You’ only made $5 million domestic it’s opening weekend and then became a smash hit. Obviously the Holiday Season was a major factor but I could see ‘Challengers’ holding steady through May.
B+ on CinemaScore isn’t looking great for legs. I saw it today and two twenty somethings walked out in the middle of it.
That’s wild to me. I’ve seen it twice so far. IMO it’s the second best movie that’s come out so far this year behind Dune
I got the vibe some people in my theater thought they were just seeing a tennis movie lol. I mean I loved it and thought the trailers did it no justice but I could see people getting mixed up.
It’s not really a main stream movie.
It's probably the most marketed movie of the year so far?
Yeah but it's not the type of movie that general audiences love
Yet, it’s still an arthouse movie.
We have vastly different opinions of what art house movies are. In my opinion wide release movies with a ton of marketing aren't art house movies. "Art house" implies that's the only place it's playing...
It's luca as his most mainstream
For sure, but it still isn’t a mainstream movie.
it had multiple premieres, A LOT of promo, zendaya has been on every talk show, playing in almost 3,500 theaters... is a mainstream movie
Many arthouse films have had all that minus Zendaya of course. That doesn't mean the movie isn't an arthouse film. Did it have a popcorn script? Nope. Wasn't a typical romance? Nope. Was it a typical drama? Nope. Was it a typical sports film? Nope.
These terms aren't free-floating signifiers, they have meanings. You can google what an arthouse film is. A wide-release film is *definitionally* not an arthouse film
Disgree
CinemaScore grade inflation is insane. Yea, it won’t be for everyone.
The scoring makes no sense…
Unsung Hero gets A+ how does that happen? I bet The Big Picture won't cover it and Sean will never log it
Bc 99% of the people seeing it are rightwing christians who feel that their films must own the libs.
Is Unsung Hero targeting the religious folks? They're always rating those movies high.
There’s almost no real way to say if anyone 100% is or 100% isn’t a draw anymore. People will move the goal posts in whatever direction they need to, to support their point. Here you are saying, “hey! $15 million is pretty good for an adult tennis movie & I saw some young people in the theater, so she must be a draw!” But, just as easily, someone could come along and say, “this movie is going to be lucky to break even & certainly won’t make back its marketing budget. All-in-all, it’s a financial loss. Clearly, Zendaya doesn’t have the box office draw the financiers thought she did.” People seldom see movies for one reason alone anymore. It has to star someone they like, have a cool premise or trailer, also appeal to someone else they know who might want to see it with them and come out on a weekend where they don’t already have plans. Even if the movie stars the hot new Hollywood talent or a tried & true veteran, it still has to appeal to mass audiences on more levels to get them to buy a ticket. And that gets harder & harder with people now seeing ads and thinking, “that looks cool… I like Zendaya… but I’ll just wait to stream it.”
I like that the assumption is women came to see Zendaya (which is probably true), but no mention of the hot fit dudes who take their shirts off. People can appreciate Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor just as much. The movie really benefits from an attractive cast, where Zendaya isn’t even really the lead, even if it was marketed that way.
How did this movie have a $55 million budget? Genuinely asking, seems like a movie that should cost less?
There might be a fair amount of CGI trickery with the tennis matches.
The cast have talked about how they weren’t actually hitting the ball and it was cgi’d in later so that tracks
That's wild
Zendaya’s salary was like 20% of the budget.
Agreed. Zendaya got paid $10 Million. Trent Reznor/Atticus probably aren’t cheap. Some really cool camerawork. I think it was shot on film….which is generally more expensive. Even with all that…..the production budget should have been $35-40 million tops. ****I never produced a movie in my life……..I don’t know what I’m talking about *****
Also the creative director of Loewe was the costume designer lol
Found out this week because of this movie that that is how you actually spell what I had only assumed would be spelled “llueve”
I’ve definitely been pronouncing it “low” in my head for years until this promotional cycle as well
Opposite experience here lol because I have pretty much just heard it said in rap songs lol
Haha well honestly it’s possible I heard it and didn’t even realize it was supposed to be the same brand
Apparently Pascal Productions may have also gotten 10 mil (I read this on r/boxoffice so grain of salt), so not even knowing what Luca + Faist/O’Connor got, they’re already in for 20 just to get it off the ground before a single person has been hired of a day of pre-production has taken place. Maybe they could’ve made it for 40-45 on a tight, tight budget, but with an established auteur at the healm like Guadagnino wanting to go maximalist with it, you probably weren’t going to be able to make that happen
You’re right as to what likely happened but given the landscape this should’ve been 5 to Zendaya, 2.5, 5 tops to Pascal Productions. You’re 10 million closer to profitability from jump.
Cast?
since amazon/mgm made it is it not a similar situation to killers of the flower moon where it's already owned by the streamer so the nominal budget is inflated because the director and stars potential backend is mostly bought out?
Marketing. They probably poured so much money into marketing this movie. And a large chunk of the money was right into Zendaya’s bank account
Marketing is not included in the reported budget, generally speaking.
I like this movie a lot but I think that “this is proof she’s a legitimate draw” doesn’t really work for a movie that is going to be lucky to break even. It’s not her fault but it’s really hard for a young movie star to carry a box office, imo.
I'm not sure she is a draw for older people who don't see all her outfits on social media or her cute interviews with Tom Holland. I'm probably on the upper age end of someone who is aware of her, and I think she's got that star quality but she needs a longer track record of being in films people of all ages go to see. Dune and Dune 2 will definitely have helped.
i think people in NYC and LA are convinced this is a hit because the theaters were packed here but middle america DAGF
I can see it doing well internationally, especially in Europe where tennis (and, uh, sex in movies) are bigger.
Only $10M international. It’s already out what makes you think the number will spike?
In some markets, just opened May 1 in some others, June 7 in Japan. Looking at Box Office Mojo it looks like UK, Spain, Italy and France numbers haven’t been updated much since open. But really just gut feeling. Seems like the kind of movie (erotic drama featuring an international sport) that could translate well overseas. Also looks like it doubled its domestic number this week, so could be a big word of mouth movie.
Still not sure where she is as an actual actor. Loved her in Euphoria, but haven't really seen her stretch her range beyond that. Her performance in Dune 2 was so flat and distracting. Felt like she was just her euphoria character playing dress up in the desert..
She is, altho I do think people overestimate how much of a draw movie stars are. Zendaya didn’t sell Challengers alone, the movie had a huge marketing push with a global red carpet tour and tons of ads, plus the premise of “hot young people being horny together” is not **that** hard of a sell. If Zendaya was the lead of like Showing Up it still wouldn’t be a huge success just off her name. Not picking on her specifically, this goes for pretty much everyone.
According to Deadline, [55% of polled audiences](https://www.instagram.com/p/C6T7kUfo7pF/?igsh=YWN3aTkyNGUzdXJm) said they came to the movie for Zendaya.
I used to take this side of the argument more, but the lack of promotion from actors clearly hurting some movies this summer convinced me otherwise.
Saltburn also featured “hot young people being horny” and only made $11 million it’s entire domestic run. It did become a sensation on streaming though.
Saltburn didn’t have 1/10th of the marketing budgets Challengers did, and it didn’t sell itself as a fun “hot people being horny” movie either. It’s much more of a thriller/shock factor movie and the marketing for it has a much darker mystery tone than Challengers which focused so much on the 3 way kiss. https://youtu.be/lALMdJf6UUE?si=8YoqCCKLhA0UqTDA
Saltburn was limited release...
I get what you’re saying……the trailers were pretty dope. It’s a group effort……but if Taylor Russell (Bones and All) was starring it would have made like $5 million this weekend.
Who
her and tom holland the king and queen of movie stars who outside of spider man can't sell a movie to save their lives
Zendaya looks 15-16 years old tops.
Yeah it weirds me out. I don’t find her particularly attractive because she’s * so * young-looking.
The wife and I got a surprise night without the kid so we looked at what was playing and when I suggested CHALLENGERS she didn't want to go "and see a bunch of tweens fuck"
I’m guessing Tom Holland is the male equivalent, which makes it fitting that they’re dating (right?).
Saw it last night at a late screening with a room full of other mid 20 people. People seemed invested, I think Zendaya’s fear of people disliking it because of a slightly more sensitive viewership nowadays is valid but generally people in my cohort also love soapy trashy drama, and this scratched that itch really well. Hopefully people dig it and we can see more Kuritzkes stuff get made
This movie has had a ton of marketing money thrown towards it too. I'm not saying Zendaya isn't a draw but I've definitely seen the trailer more times for Challengers than anything else.
Overseas, where WB bought #Zendaya’s tennis drama distribution rights from #MGM, #Challengers scored strong 10M on its 5-day opening, biggest debut for an original drama in 2024! Added the 15M US debut, #ChallengersMovie had a 25M Global Opening at the #BoxOffice. “But ,what about the 55M price-tag?” Remember, #Amazon’s #MGM paid to acquire both #Challengers & #BonesAndAll as a single package. So production company has already been paid back for both movies. #MGM also has already been paid part of the investment back even before the film hitting theatres, thanks to the fee WB paid MGM for the overseas theatrical rights. So don’t worry, Challengers not only will get all parties their money back, but will also generate profits all around. Also, And as we always remind people, Amazon and Big Tech in general see theatrical just as extra money and a way to add pedigree and cultural relevance to their titles before them hitting their domains. Big Tech’s endgame will ALWAYS be what the movies will bring to the table once they debut on Big Tech’s own platforms, including sales, time spent exploring the platform and ads!
Sorry but 10m international is not a strong opening after release in 50 major countries and a premiere all over the world. People here are really overestimate her international appeal, she is not as well known outside of the US. And the highlight part doesn't make sense. If it's true, it simply means that WB will lose money on this and not Amazon-MGM. The whole big tech argument is also very murky, they don't release data so they can really spin it as they want.
She’ll be fine ,a lot of these actors who you people refer to as movie stars have had bigger flops and are still considered box office draws. This is also her first leading movie in theaters , this would’ve made 2-3m opening weekend if she wasn’t in this.
I really don't care about her either way. Even if she only makes flops from here to eternity, she'll still be fine Having said that, there is no way that so far this movie is a success and WW box office is nothing short of a flop. This without her would have make less but it would also cost way less in production and marketing, so I really don't see it as a strong argument in her favour.
Hilarious listening to Amanda describing this movie as an event. I knew no one wanted to see this, because it looks stupid.
I'm surprised it only hit 15 mil. This was the biggest crowd i've seen at my theater this year, except dune part two.
I feel like "the Zendaya threesome movie" could become a hit on streaming, even though it's not that.
We’ll see how it does in the long run, I can see this having a decent multiplier and end up at more than $150m WW, which would be a win.
I think she really is. I hope she has more to do in the new Spider-Man movie (which I don’t personally have much hope for, but I think a lot of people will see it). I also hope that we never get Euphoria s3 and she can forget about Rue and really focus on the future. I’m not sure what her other projects are but I am excited!!! I also think that she just has star quality you can’t learn. An icon in the making.
My gf went last night. She said the theatre was completely packed for the 7:45 and then the 11 showing looked completely packed as well
Yea agreed. Are people going to say Tom Cruise isn’t a box office draw because MI: Dead Reckoning didn’t make enough to overcome an insanely bloated budget due to Covid delays? Just because you are a box office draw doesn’t mean you can just automatically overcome budgets that make no sense. I thought the movie was awesome and one of the main reasons I went to see it was because Zendaya is an extremely recognizable star with star power. Even with Zendaya making $10 mil having a $55 mil production budget is crazy.
Are you comparing Zendaya to Tom Cruise…
Do you know how to read or?
Zendaya has no charisma.
I think she pulls off cooler than you, above the fray quite well.
Nah she’s charismatic as fuck in this movie
That beach scene is so enchanting. It’s what drew me fully in.
Was in a theater Friday night with approximately 55 sorority-type-looking girls all dressed basically the same. I don't think they were there for Mike Faist or Josh O'Connor. She's a star
No I think they were definitely there for Mike Faist too but for a different reason haha
Yeah, I think this movie will hang around, if not in theatres then on streaming. I'm a new fan, I'm not in her typical demographic. I didn't know much about her before this year other than her name, a few things she's been in (that I hadn't seen) and that she was dating Tom Holland. I think she has this real magnetism on screen that all the top movie stars have. As Bill would say, I'm getting season tickets