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I still need to see Crazy Rich Asians. Hopefully this week!!

The Predator returns to Earth with so-so $24 million opening

The Predator is eliminating its box office competition, though not without taking some blows.

The latest installment in Fox’s action-packed film series about extraterrestrial big-game hunters is on track to debut with an estimated $24 million in ticket sales from Friday through Sunday, at 4,037 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. In doing so, it will dethrone last week’s No. 1 movie, The Nun, and keep fellow new releases A Simple Favor, White Boy Rick, and Unbroken: Path to Redemption at bay.

Although it’s poised to top the box office, The Predator is coming in on the low end of industry forecasts, which ranged from $25 million to $35 million. The film, which cost $88 million to produce, is also trailing its most recent predecessor, Predators, which opened with $24.8 million eight years ago. Overseas, The Predator will add about $30.7 million this weekend.

Marking the sixth film in the Predator franchise (counting two Aliens vs. Predator crossovers) and arriving 31 years after the Arnold Schwarzenegger-led original, The Predator finds the titular alien stalking humans in suburbia, including an Army Ranger played by Boyd Holbrook, a scientist played by Olivia Munn, and a young boy played by Jacob Tremblay. Shane Black (who played a supporting role in 1987’s Predator) directed, from a script he wrote with Frank Dekker.

Critics’ reviews were underwhelming, while audiences gave it a weak C+ CinemaScore, which does not bode well for word of mouth.

Warner Bros. and New Line’s horror flick The Nun will earn about $18 million in its sophomore weekend, good for second place. That brings the film’s domestic total to about $85 million after 10 days in theaters. Internationally, the film has grossed an estimated $143.6 million, for a global total of $228.7 million.

Arriving alongside The Predator this weekend are Lionsgate’s thriller A Simple Favor, in third place with an estimated $16.1 million; Sony’s crime drama White Boy Rick, in fourth place with an estimated $8.8 million; and PureFlix’s biopic Unbroken: Path to Redemption, in ninth place with an estimated $2.4 million.

A Simple Favor is directed by Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) and stars Anna Kendrick as a mommy blogger who tries to solve the disappearance of a glamourous new friend (played by Blake Lively). The film is coming in slightly ahead of industry projections, which were in the $12 million to $15 million range.

White Boy Rick is based on the true story of Richard Wershe Jr., a young drug kingpin and FBI informant in 1980s Detroit. The film stars Richie Merritt, Matthew McConaughey, and Bel Powley; Yann Demange directed. Its opening is in line with projections.

Finally, Path to Redemption is a sequel to Angelina Jolie’s 2014 film Unbroken, about Olympic runner and World War II veteran Louis Zamperini. Directed by Harold Cronk (God’s Not Dead), the new film chronicles Zamperini’s return from the war, his struggles to readjust to civilian life, and his religious reawakening.

According to ComScore, overall box office is up 8.9 percent year-to-date. Check out the Sept. 14-16 figures below.

1. The Predator — $24 million
2. The Nun — $18 million
3. A Simple Favor — $16.1 million
4. White Boy Rick — $8.8 million
5. Crazy Rich Asians — $8.7 million
6. Peppermint — $6.1 million
7. The Meg — $3.8 million
8. Searching — $3.2 million
9. Unbroken: Path to Redemption — $2.4 million
10. Mission: Impossible — Fallout — $2.3 million