Disney decided to give Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland a very limited run in IMAX and other large format theaters, which explains why the film got off to a slow start at the box office. The Poltergeist remake had a much wider launch, earning over $1 million.
Disney said that Tomorrowland took in $725,000 from just 701 locations, notes Deadline Had the film been given a wider launch, it probably would have been closer to $3 million, but Disney should still take that as a nice start for such a small release.
The film, which stars Britt Robertson and George Clooney, has been earning mixed responses from critics, but the mystery and star power involved will still bring in audiences. It is expected to gross between $40 million and $50 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend.
Poltergeist, which is a remake of the 1982 horror classic produced by Steven Spielberg, made $1.4 million Thursday night. Released by Fox and produced by MGM, the film is expected to finish the weekend with around $25 million.
Holdovers Pitch Perfect 2 and Mad Max: Fury Road are expected to hang around, while Avengers: Age of Ultron will probably make enough to stay in the Top 5.
For more movie news, follow Daniel on Twitter at @dsl89.
screenshot from Disney Movie Trailers YouTube video