The rom-com may be showing signs of life.
After being written off as a theatrical proposition, Paramount’s “The Lost City” appears to be scoring with audiences. The film, which puts a fresh coat of varnish on “Romancing the Stone” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” earned $2.5 million in Thursday previews. The movie isn’t just relying on a meet cute premise, it is also bolstered by some star power in the form of Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum. It may also help that Bullock has hinted that “The Lost City” will be her last big screen appearance for a while (at least if you don’t count her cameo in Brad Pitt’s “Bullet Train” this summer). Pitt returned the favor by cameoing in “The Lost City” and Daniel Radcliffe, his wizarding days but a distant memory, also appears as the heavy.
“The Lost City” centers on a romance novelist (Bullock) who gets kidnapped by a billionaire who hopes to exploit her knowledge of an ancient language in order to find a treasure. Tatum plays a hunky, dim-witted cover model who decides to rescue Bullock. Critics liked the movie, with Variety‘s Peter Debruge writing, “‘The Lost City’ proves they do in fact make ’em like they used to.” The film was a fairly expensive proposition, carrying a budget of $68 million, which is a lot of coin for a rom-com.
Thanks to the stars’ on-screen chemistry and the good reviews, “The Lost City” is expected to earn a promising $20 million in its opening weekend. Those ticket sales would put the film in a pitched battle with “The Batman” for first place.