Challengers finally went to court.
Directed by Luca Guadagnino, the film has earned $1.9 million in box office previews for MGM and Amazon Studios as it prepares to be released everywhere on Friday. The majority were from Thursday night shows, but there was also a special Imax preview earlier this week.
The critically acclaimed film features Zendaya as a tennis player caught in a love triangle. She stars alongside Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor.
“Intelligent, seductive and bristling with sexual tension, Challengers is arguably Luca Guadagnino’s most purely enjoyable film to date; it is certainly his lightest and most playful,” writes THRis David Rooney in his glowing review. “As nimble and dynamic as the many tennis matches it depicts, the love triangle drama pits the on-court rivalry of two former best friends against their competing desires for a self-confident woman whose thirst to win is not diminished by a knee injury that cuts his own career short.
Challengers was supposed to open last year in time for awards season, but MGM and Amazon scuttled those plans due to the SAG-AFTRA strike and talent being barred from doing press. Zendaya in particular has a huge social reach necessary for the film.
If the tracking is correct, Challengers has a chance to win the weekend with $15 million, a solid number for what is more of an arthouse film than a commercial piece.
Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company will also open nationwide. Unsung Heroes, which grossed $470,000 during Thursday previews. In total, the religious film raked in $1.67 from early access screenings.
Based on a true story, Unsung Hero follows David Smallbone as he moves his family from Australia to the United States in search of a better future after the collapse of his successful music company. He and his wife began to realize the musical talent of their seven children; three of them who would go on to become two successful artists – KING + COUNTRY and Rebecca St. James.
Unsung Heroes is on track to open in the $5-6 million range against a budget of just $6 million.
