‘T3′ Blasts $4 Million in Previews
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – The nearly unstoppable time-traveling cyborg from the future is back in theaters after a 12-year absence as Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” opened in early previews Tuesday night and vaporized $4.04 million.
The R-rated sci-fi actioner, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in his near-legendary recurring role, began unspooling at 8 p.m. in 2,569 theaters.
“The previews were sensational; it’s one of the biggest preview openings of all time,” said Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution at Warner Bros. Pictures. “The matinee grosses are very strong, and we are looking forward to a very successful holiday weekend.”
The second film in the series, “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” also had preview sales the night before its wide release in July 1991, though showtimes started later in the evening, and there were fewer theaters.
“T2” was in 1,390 venues on a Tuesday night, with shows beginning at 10 p.m. The James Cameron-helmed picture grossed $2.4 million from those preview shows, and “T2” went on to take in $52.3 million by the end of the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
It’s very difficult to compare or forecast a weekend gross for a film based solely on previews because of the varying number of theaters, time the film started playing, day of the week, time of the year, its MPAA rating and genre. All of these factors factor in to how a film will finally play out at the box office, and it’s nearly impossible to find two previews that are identical, allowing an apples-to-apples comparison, because the majority of films do not have previews, and they’re done on a picture-by-picture basis.
But in 1997, the calendar dates fell on the same days of the week as 2003, and coincidentally, another event film opened with previews on a Tuesday night before the wide release Wednesday, July 2. Sony’s “Men in Black” opened in 2,452 theaters beginning at 8 p.m. and grossed $4.8 million. “MiB” went on to take in $51.1 million during the three-day holiday weekend and $84.1 million for the five days, including the preview sales.
But a big difference between “T3” and “MiB” is that the latter was a sci-fi action comedy that carried a PG-13 rating, for which a much wider audience was available, particularly in the middle of the summer box office season when schools are out and younger patrons have time on their hands.
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