With no major movies on the horizon, the summer slowdown continues at the box office. Universal’s action movie “Beast,” starring Idris Elba, picked up just $925,000 from Thursday previews after launching in 2,900 theaters. It will expand to 3,743 locations on Friday.
The survival thriller is expected to bring in $10 million in its opening weekend. The film cost $36 million to produce, not to mention more to promote. Internationally, “Beast” has already earned $4.9 million.
Elba plays a father who travels to South Africa with his two daughters, and while in the savannah, he faces the titular predator in “Beast” — a rogue, ferocious lion. The cast includes Sharlto Copley, Iyana Halley and Leah Jeffries.
Domestically, “Beast” looks like it’ll be tamed by the anime movie “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero,” the latest feature in the long-running and popular “Dragon Ball” series. Released by Crunchyroll, which specializes in Japanese anime films and TV series, “Super Hero” is targeting $13 million to $15 million in its opening weekend.
The movie marks the widest release ever for Crunchyroll, and it looks to surpass the previous feature film in the franchise, 2018’s “Dragon Ball Super: Broly.” Opening over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, “Broly” took in $9.8 million in its first three days of release and ended the long weekend with $11.9 million. “Broly” ended its run with $30 million domestically and $115 million worldwide, a mark “Super Hero” hopes to beat.
In other limited releases this weekend, Aubrey Plaza and Alison Brie star in the new comedy “Spin Me Round” from IFC Films, while Paul Walter Hauser and Marisa Tomei co-lead the crime drama “Delia’s Gone” from Vertical Entertainment.