Zendaya’s Challengers Box Office Ranks No. 1 In Slow April Weekend

Summary

• Zendaya’s
  Challengers
  debuts at #1 with a $15.2 million opening, dominating the box office.
• The dramatic tennis movie features Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist in a complex love triangle.
• With a massive $55 million budget, Challengers receives largely positive reviews and holds the top spot.

Zendaya’s Challengers is at the top of the box office in a slow weekend. The dramatic tennis movie features Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist as three tennis players with a complex love affair. The Amazon MGM movie has a massive $55 million budget and carries an R-rating. It was released in multiple countries before reaching the United States on April 26, 2024.

In its domestic opening weekend, Challengers‘s largely positive reviews propelled it to a strong opening. With a $15.2 million projection for the weekend, it has easily taken the top spot at the box office. Even more impressively, it nearly doubled the number 2 movie, Unsung Hero, which is expected to earn $8 million. The rest of the box office top 5 includes Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Civil War, and Abigail.

Challengers’ Impressive Box Office Start

Challengers‘ great box office start can partly be attributed to a slow weekend. Unsung Hero, a movie that follows the true story of a family of Christian recording artists, is surprisingly its strongest competition. Beyond the top five, Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare sits at the sixth spot in its second week and is followed by Kung Fu Panda 4, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, a re-release of Dune: Part Two, and a re-release of Alien. The slow weekend has provided the perfect opportunity for Challengers to thrive.

Despite its early success, it is unlikely that Challengers will reach profitability at the box office alone. Generally, movies need to earn 2.5 times their budget to profit, meaning Challengers will need $137.5 million. That is an unlikely total for a tennis drama, especially as The Fall Guy and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes prepare for release. If Challengers does not achieve that $137.5 million mark, there is still a high chance that the movie will become a success. Amazon MGM will look to international markets and streaming strategies for Challengers to bring the movie to profitability.

Long-term success is likely. The movie has not only succeeded because of its competition. It has an 88 percent Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score and a 75 percent audience score, as well as a B+ CinemaScore. These positive reviews are enough to draw attention, but Zendaya is also an excellent box office draw. A tennis movie with an R-rating securing a $15 million opening is impressive and is proof of Challengers‘ strengths at the box office.

Source: Deadline