© Sony
“The Woman King” has taken the throne of the box office.
The Sony release is expected to gross $18 million from 3,765 sites, which is in line with most experts’ predictions heading into the weekend. The epic also profited from the inclusion of various premium format auditoriums, such as Imax, which increased revenue.
Though not quite a spectacular opening, it’s a good start for the action film, which has a $50 million production budget and no ties to current brands. Furthermore, it’s more than enough to propel “The Woman King” to the top of the box office charts on a slow weekend with few competitors.
“The Woman King,” which was co-financed by eOne, generated a lot of buzz when it debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month. Since then, reviews have been mostly positive, with the picture currently maintaining a whopping 94% approval rating on review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. According to Variety’s top film critic Peter Debruge, “the movie embraces the rules of mid-20th-century costume dramas: it’s stirring but little stodgy, meant to stand the test of time.”
Though not quite a spectacular opening, it’s a good start for the action film, which has a $50 million production budget and no ties to current brands. Furthermore, it’s more than enough to propel “The Woman King” to the top of the box office charts on a slow weekend with few competitors.
However, audience reactions have been even more positive, with “The Woman King” receiving the highest “A+” rating from research agency Cinema Score, indicating euphoric acceptance from ordinary moviegoers. Sony is hoping that positive word-of-mouth and a lack of definite tentpoles will help the film as it continues to play into the fall.
Viola Davis acts in and produces “The Woman King,” which is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. The film portrays the true story of Davis, a formidable general of the Agojie, an all-female militia fighting to protect Dahomey, a West African kingdom. The film also stars John Boyega, Lashana Lynch, Thuso Mbedu, and Sheila Atim in addition to Davis.