Karate Kid: Legends has set a franchise record in spite of failing to defeat either of the previous weekend’s chart-topping hits. The movie, which is the sixth installment of the Karate Kid franchise, features the 1984 movie’s original protagonist, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) working with the 2010 reboot’s martial arts mentor Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) to train a new student in need, Li Fong (Ben Wang). It is the final major release of May after the summer movie season kicked off in grand fashion with the record-breaking Memorial Day debuts of Lilo & Sтιтch and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
Per ᴅᴇᴀᴅline, as of Saturday morning, Karate Kid: Legends is projected to close out its opening weekend with a 3-day total between $21 and $23 million at the domestic box office. This will mark the best debut for any Karate Kid movie featuring Daniel LaRusso, beating his previous high of $12.6 million for 1986’s The Karate Kid, Part II. However, even at the upper end of that range, the movie will hit less than half of the $55.7 million debut of the 2010 reboot, giving it the second-best opening of the franchise overall.
Karate Kid: Legends is expected to debut at No. 3 on the domestic chart, with Memorial Day’s holdover hits maintaining their positions at No. 1 and No. 2. Disney’s live-action Lilo & Sтιтch remake is projected to follow its opening weekend (which was the best-ever debut over Memorial Day) with a sophomore weekend between $60 and $64 million. Meanwhile, The Final Reckoning will maintain its spot at No. 2, dropping 58% for a projected $26.7 million after earning the best debut of the eight-film franchise.
What This Means For Karate Kid: Legends
It Doesn’t Need To Hit The Level Of Lilo & Sтιтch
Although the fact that the Karate Kid: Legends release has kicked off with the movie premiering at No. 3 might seem like an inauspicious beginning, it was never expected to defeat the tentpoles at No. 1 and No. 2. Nor does it have to. The movie’s reported budget of $45 million gives it a lot more financial wiggle room than the Memorial Day blockbusters, as Lilo & Sтιтch reportedly cost $100 million and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning has a reported budget of up to $400 million, making it one of the most expensive movies of all time.
While The Final Reckoning‘s reported budget ranges between $300 million and $400 million, that would see it land somewhere between the 15th and fourth most expensive movie in history.
Because movies typically need to earn back two and a half times their budgets in order to turn a profit in theaters, the new Karate Kid movie has an estimated break-even point of $112.5 million, so it still has a way to climb. However, Part II earned $115.1 million worldwide by the end of its run, and the fact that the new installment is set to make roughly $10 million more than that previous installment during its debut could be a good sign for its theatrical performance.
Additionally, while reviews for Legends are middling, earning it a 57% Rotten Tomatoes score, audiences are much warmer on it, giving it an 88% Popcornmeter score and an A- CinemaScore that could potentially help it build word of mouth as its release continues in the coming weeks.
Our Take On The Weekend Box Office
Karate Kid: Legends Keeps Summer Rolling
Even though Karate Kid: Legends did not debut at No. 1, the fact that all three of the top movies came out in the past two weekends and had record-setting debuts is a solid kickoff for the summer movie season. It remains to be seen if the remainder of summer can keep up this level of performance, but there is at least one promising тιтle set to debut each weekend between Memorial Day and the middle of August, including Superman, the live-action How to Train Your Dragon, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Jurᴀssic World Rebirth, 28 Years Later, and F1.
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Source: ᴅᴇᴀᴅline
