M. Night Shyamalan’s After Earth could be headed for one of the lowest summer openings for a Will Smith film as it faces tough competition from box office hit Fast and Furious 6, which is poised to stay at No. 1 in its second weekend with a gross of $50 million or more.
Based on pre-release tracking, After Earth is pacing to gross $35 million to $40 million, in line with the debut of Tom Cruise sci-fi adventure Oblivion earlier this year. Sony believes this would be a great result, considering After Earth is an original title, as was Oblivion.
After Earth, costing $130 million to produce, opens in a much more crowded corridor, and a domestic debut of $35 million to $40 million would come in well below the usual opening for a summer film starring Smith. Last year, Men in Black 3 opened to $54.6 million, while Hancock scored a $62.6 million debut in summer 2008. Nor would it match the $55.7 million dollar opening of Karate Kid, also starring Jaden Smith, in June 2010.
SOURCE: Hollywood Reporter
