Thursday Night Previews: Stories Scares Up Some Box Office Dollars

August 9, 2019

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark had the best previews on Thursday, earning $2.3 million. It was expected to top Dora and the Lost City of Gold, because it is a horror movie and that genre tends to be a lot more front-loaded. However, it wasn’t expected to do this well and it will easily top our $15 million prediction for the weekend, especially if its reviews translate into strong word-of-mouth.

On the other hand, Dora and the Lost City of Gold is struggling after earning just $1.25 million during previews, putting it on pace for $16 million during its opening weekend. This is not a great start for a film that cost $49 million to make, but its reviews should help it in the long run and it could be a much bigger hit internationally. Even if the film struggles, it should still make a profit for the company just by boosting the Dora the Explorer brand and lifting merchandising sales.

I wasn’t expecting much out of The Art of Racing in the Rain and with previews of just $450,000, it’s not going to make much. In fact, it’s not going to match our mere $8 million prediction.

Brian Banks only managed $100,000 during its previews and it will miss our $2 million prediction as a result.

Finally, there are still no numbers for The Kitchen, which is an even worse sign.

Filed under: Midnight Previews, Dora and the Lost City of Gold, The Kitchen, The Art of Racing in the Rain, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Brian Banks