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Box Office: M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Old’ Creeping to No. 1 With Estimated $15 Million

Old,” the newest thriller from director M. Night Shyamalan, is poised to top the domestic box office charts this weekend with an estimated $15.75 million.

The Universal film, starring Alex Wolff and Thomasin McKenzie, took in $6.8 million from 3,355 theaters on Friday. Throughout the weekend, it’s expected to add roughly another $9 million to its haul — with some industry experts predicting even more — which would be enough to take over the No. 1 spot. If so, “Old” will mark Shyamalan’s 14th film to gross more than $15 million in its opening weekend, and seventh film to debut in the top spot.

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“Old” follows a family on a tropical vacation who happen upon a beach that causes them to age rapidly, reducing their lives to one single day. The film’s predicted $15 million haul marks a slight downturn at the box office compared to other recent debuts — like “Black Widow” and “Space Jam: A New Legacy” — which brought in $80 million and $30 million in their opening weekends, respectively. As the delta variant of COVID-19 becomes more of a concern and some mask mandates are restored, some moviegoers might choose to skip out on the big screen this weekend.

Coming in close behind “Old” is “Snake Eyes,” a “G.I. Joe” origin story starring Henry Golding. The Paramount film is poised to bring in $14.2 million at the box office this weekend, which is a smidge lower than the $15 to $16 million predicted earlier in the week. “Snake Eyes” brought in $5.47 million on Friday from 3,521 theaters.

But, the numbers for both “Old” and “Snake Eyes” will most likely be enough to top both “Black Widow” and “Space Jam 2,” which are expected to come in at No. 3 and No. 4 on the box office charts. “Black Widow” is estimated to earn another $11 to $12 million, bringing its cume to roughly $155 million. “Space Jam 2,” on the other hand — which topped last weekend’s box office charts — has dropped down to No. 4, seeing a significant decrease in ticket sales on Friday, when it brought in $2.97 million from 4,002 theaters. The basketball flick should gross another $8.78 million this weekend, which would make its total earnings $50.58 million.

“F9” rounds out the top five, earning $1.33 million on Friday with an expected three-day gross of $4.46 million. That would bring the racing film up to $163 million, making it the highest-earning film on the domestic charts at the moment.

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