“The Naked Gun” Reboot Lands Third Place on Friday Box Office, Earning $6.3 Million
Paramount‘s reboot of the classic comedy “The Naked Gun” debuted in third place at the domestic box office on Friday, grossing $6.3 million from 3,344 theaters. The film, starring Liam Neeson as detective Frank Drebin Jr., is projected to earn $16.5 million over its opening weekend.This performance is considered solid, particularly given the current scarcity of theatrical comedies.
The Akiva Schaffer-directed film, which boasts a concise 85-minute runtime, follows Drebin Jr. as he investigates a murder to prevent the Police Squad from being disbanded. The cast also features Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, CCH Pounder, and Kevin Durand. Paramount invested $42 million in the production of this reboot.
The original “Naked Gun,” inspired by the 1982 TV series “Police Squad,” starred the late Leslie nielsen and became a landmark in American comedy cinema following its 1988 release.It was followed by two sequels: “The Naked Gun 2: The Smell of fear” (1991) and “Naked Gun 33: The Final Insult” (1994).
In other box office news, Worldwide and DreamWorks’ animated sequel “The Bad guys 2” secured the second spot, bringing in $9.1 million on Friday from 3,852 locations. The film,featuring the voices of Sam Rockwell,Marc Maron,and Craig Robinson,is expected to gross $22 million for the weekend.The production budget for “The Bad Guys 2” was $80 million.
Neon’s body-horror thriller “Together,” starring real-life couple Alison Brie and Franco, landed in sixth place, earning an estimated $2.1 million from 2,302 theaters on Friday. The film,which centers on a couple subjected to a mysterious body-fusing force,is targeting a five-day total of $7.5 million to $10 million. Neon acquired the film for $17 million after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
Simultaneously occurring, James Gunn’s “Superman” continued its strong performance, taking fourth place with $4 million on Friday. The DC Studios film has accumulated $293 million domestically and is anticipated to surpass $300 million by Sunday.
Rounding out the top five was Universal’s “Jurassic World Rebirth,” which earned $2.4 million on Friday. Starring Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey, this soft reboot is projected to reach $317 million by Sunday.
