Predator: Badlands tops box office with US$80 million worldwide

Predator: Badlands led all films in North American theatres with a debut of US$40 million (S$52 million), according to studio estimates Sunday (Nov 9), a better-than-expected result that slightly lifted the box office from its autumn doldrums.

On the heels of the worst box office weekend of 2025, Predator: Badlands faced little competition from new titles. Not accounting for inflation, the US$40 million opening marked a new high for the dreadlocked alien franchise, besting the US$38.3 million launch of 2004’s Alien Vs Predator.

Predator: Badlands, written and directed by Dan Trachtenberg, collected another US$40 million overseas for the Walt Disney Co’s 20th Century Studios. A key factor for Predator: Badlands is that, with a budget of US$105 million, it’s also the most expensive Predator film.

Badlands, the eighth movie in the franchise that began with 1987’s Predator, offers a novel twist for the sci-fi series. On a remote planet, a young, outcast predator (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) encounters an android researcher (Elle Fanning), and the two set off on a journey. Reviews (85 per cent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) have been good. Moviegoers gave it an “A-” CinemaScore.

Good news had lately been hard to find in movie theatres. On Wednesday, AMC Theaters, the largest theatre chain, posted a US$298.2 million quarterly loss, partly due to a less-than-stellar summer season. But the fall has been worse. Last month was the lowest-grossing October in nearly three decades. Few awards hopefuls have made much of a mark.

This weekend, a new wave hit theatres. But despite plenty of star power, most fell flat.

Die My Love, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, launched with US$2.8 million from 1,983 theatres. The film, directed by Lynne Ramsay, stars Lawrence as a new mother and Pattinson as her husband. Mubi plunked down a reported US$24 million for Die My Love after its debut at the Cannes Film Festival. Audience slammed it with a “D+” CinemaScore.

Christy, starring Sydney Sweeney as the professional boxer Christy Martin, debuted with US$1.3 million in 2,011 theatres. The film, the first one distributed by production company Black Bear Pictures, has earned Sweeney awards buzz since its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Sony Pictures Classics’ Nuremberg, a post-World War II drama about the Nuremberg trials starring Rami Malek and Russell Crowe, managed to do a bit better. It opened with US$4.1 million in 1,802 theatres.

It was slightly edged by the best performer of the newcomers: Sarah’s Oil. The Amazon MGM release opened with US$4.5 million from 2,410 locations. It stars Naya Desir-Johnson as a young black girl in the early 1900s who learns that her Oklahoma land allotment is rich with oil. Sarah’s Oil scored a rare “A+” CinemaScore from ticket buyers.

Arguably the most promising of the prospective awards movies to open in theatres over the weekend was Neon’s Sentimental Value. The film, a prize-winner at Cannes, directed by Norwegian-Danish filmmaker Joachim Trier, has been tabbed as a major Oscar contender this year. The family drama’s cast includes Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and, in her second movie of the weekend, Elle Fanning. It opened in four theatres with US$200,000, giving it a US$50,000 per-screen average. That’s the third best of the year.

The debut of Predator: Badlands sealed the Walt Disney Co’s fourth straight year of US$4 billion in worldwide ticket sales. It also broke a short streak of disappointments for the studio, including Tron: Ares and Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere. With potentially two of the biggest box-office hits of the year still to come in Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire And Ash, Disney is poised to surpass US$5 billion.