Box Office: ‘The Wild Robot’ Powering Up to $35 Million Opening, ‘Megalopolis’ on Track for Less Than $5 Million

Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s new film “The Wild Robot” is booting up with a better-than-expected $34 million opening weekend.

Director Chris Sanders’ animated film was originally projected to make between $24 million to $30 million in its opening weekend. The family friendly movie launched with $11.3 million on Friday and will take the box office crown from Warner Bros.’ “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.” Tim Burton’s horror comedy has reigned over the charts for the past three weeks and is on track for second place with $16 million in its fourth week of release.

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Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” is finally hitting theaters this weekend after premiering over the summer at the Cannes Film Festival. However, it’s on track to make $4.6 million in its opening weekend, less than initial projections of $5 million to $7 million. It’s made $1.84 million so far from 1,854 North American theaters. The film carries a $120 million budget, which was mostly self-financed by Coppola. Lionsgate is releasing and marketing the film in exchange for a distribution fee. “Megalopolis” is opening in fifth place at the box office, behind the Indian Telugu-language action film “Devara: Part 1,” which is shaping up for a $6.7 million opening weekend.

Paramount’s “Transformers One,” starring Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry as young Optimus Prime and Megatron, opened in second place last weekend and falls to third this week. It’s estimated to make $9.3 million in its second frame.

This week’s final new movie, Sony’s “SNL” origin story “Saturday Night,” opened in five theaters in New York and Los Angeles before it goes wide in two weeks. It’s on track for a $255,000 opening and made $107,000 on Friday. The Jason Reitman film is on track for a $51,000 per-theater average this weekend.

“The Wild Robot” stars Lupita Nyong’o as an adorable robot named Roz. After being abandoned on an unknown planet teeming with wildlife, Roz must adapt to her new environment. She also meets several animals who are voiced by Pedro Pascal, Kit Conner, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy, Mark Hamill, Ving Rhames and Stephanie Hsu.

In “Megalopolis,” Adam Driver stars as the leader of a sprawling city called New Rome who must rebuild the futuristic metropolis. The cast includes Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Kathryn Hunter, Grace VanderWaal, Chloe Fineman and Dustin Hoffman.

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