Predator: Badlands is approaching its fourth weekend at the cinema and as expected, with all theatrical runs, momentum is starting to slow down. A film really makes most of its box office return during its opening weekend, of which Badlands had a decent running start – but was it enough to keep the momentum going long enough to earn Disney a healthy return on their investment? Let's find out.
The cost to make Predator: Badlands
Disney reportedly spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $105 million to produce the film. This budget includes filming and post-production, but doesn't include the marketing budget used to generate hype and awareness for the picture.
The general calculation analysts use to predict if a film is considered successful or not is if a film can double its production budget and earn an additional 25% to account for marketing expenses and other fees incurred during the course of its preparation and roll-out. By those metrics, Predator: Badlands would need to earn somewhere around $250 million to be considered profitable and north of $300 million to be safely considered a box office success.
How much money Badlands has generated so far
So far, at the time of writing this article Badlands has just concluded its third weekend at the global box office and the film has just squeaked past the $160 million mark. Globally the film bowed to a take of $80 million – meaning it made half of its earnings in its first 3 days alone and momentum dwindled significantly after that.
Now, Predator: Badlands is considered by most accounts, a fun movie that's worth the watch. The average rating tallied by visitors and members here on Scified has gained the film a respectable 4.2/5 average score. Many fans (myself incuded) have bought tickets for repeated showings and enjoyed the movie thoroughly. But that doesn't seem to have swayed enough audiences to visit the theater.
Final Verdict: It's a Flop (Sadly)
While we genuinely want Badlands to be an undeniable success for Trachtenberg and Disney so it secures the likelihood of more Yautja-centric flicks in the future, the reality is the Predator just doesn't have the star power required to generate earth shattering box office records. The film would need to generate another $100 million to bring it within range of a successful entry and with its shelf life nearing a month now the chances of that happening are next to none.
Where Badlands will make up some of its lost box office potential is in the post-release merchandising run. Home entertainment releases, digital download sales, collaborations and memorabilia will be a much healthier environment for the intergalactic Hunter. At the theater though, the Predator remains an underdog.
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