EXCLUSIVE, 2nd Update 9:05PM: Jordan Peele’s Us is now looking forward to a $6M+ Thursday night. That beats the preview nights of The Nun ($5.4M), A Quiet Place ($4.3M), and it’s just under the midnight previews of Paranormal Activity 2 ($6.3M, 31% of its $20.1M Friday for a $40.6M three-day).
1st update, Thursday 7:39PM: Our box office intel says that Jordan Peele’s Us from Universal/Monkeypaw Productions is on track for a $4M-plus Thursday night, possibly even $5M off showtimes that began at 7PM.
These numbers could always fluctuate, and even if Us drops below $4M, it’s still a great result, easily putting away the $1.8M Thursday night preview for Peele’s Oscar-winning feature directorial debut Get Out back in February 2017.
Does Us make all of its cash upfront will be the question everyone will be asking until Saturday night. It’s a different type of horror film than Get Out in its storytelling and themes. One thing is for certain, the pic is working off the great momentum of its blockbuster Oscar-winning predecessor, Get Out. That pic wasn’t front-loaded like the typical horror movie. Get Out’s Thursday repped only 17% of the pic’s first day Friday which is amazing: That means 83% of the pic’s first day came from Friday ticket sales. There was also enormous walk-up business for Get Out. In the case of Us, advance ticket sales are hot with Fandango reporting that they’re ahead of Get Out and A Quiet Place at the same point in their sales cycles.
Currently, Us’ Thursday is floating in the realm of A Quiet Place ($4.3M, which repped 23% of its $18.8M Friday with a $50.2M opening) and The Nun ($5.4M, 25% of its $22M Friday, for a $53.8M opening). Pre-weekend tracking was at $45M for Us with some figuring it will scream past $50M-plus.
Similar to Get Out which went into its weekend with fantastic reviews, Us sits at 95% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. And for a horror film, that’s close to perfect. Get Out earned an A- CinemaScore which is rare for a horror film; they typically get Bs or Cs on that exit polls scales.
Sean McKittrick and Jason Blum also produced Us. We’ll have more updates for you as they come. Tonight’s estimates are from Deadline sources, not Universal.
