Box Office Preview: Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ No Match for Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’
Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter It’s Scorsese vs. Swift at the box office. Martin Scorsese’s star-studded crime epic “Killers of the Flower Moon,” this weekend’s only new nationwide release, is targeting $20 million to $30 million from its debut in 3,621 North American theaters.
But it’ll be no match for last weekend’s champion, Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour,” which looks to lead again with $35 million to $40 million in its sophomore outing. Paramount Pictures is distributing the $200 million-budgeted “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which was backed by Apple and will eventually land on its streaming service at a later date. Box office experts are split on whether its projected mid-$20 million debut would be disappointing for such an expensive film or impressive for an adult-skewing drama that runs at nearly three and a half hours.
It’s unclear what a streaming giant like Apple (which pays Paramount a distribution fee) constitutes as a success in the theatrical space. Either way, it’s the first bold big-screen bet for Apple, which also plans to release Ridley Scott’s splashy historical drama “Napoleon” in November in partnership with Sony. Several factors will play into the opening weekend of the R-rated “Killers of the Flower Moon,” including a butt-numbing runtime that will limit the number of screenings per day.
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