The July 4 holiday will feature a battle between sequels, with Channing Tatum’s Magic Mike XXL hoping to keep Terminator Genisys out of the top spot. So far, everything is going according to plan, since the stripper epic started out with $2.4 million from Tuesday screenings.
Magic Mike XXL comes three years after Magic Mike stunned Hollywood by making $113 million in North America alone. Since the film only cost $7 million to make, Warner Bros. quickly greenlit a sequel, which only cost $15 million to make, notes The Los Angeles Times.
Unlike Magic Mike, XXL is a road movie with most of the familiar faces from the first film. There’s no Matthew McConaughey, but Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash and Adam Rodriguez are back to join Tatum.
Genisys is a huge gamble for Paramount and Skydance, since it cost $155 million to make and is the first Terminator since 2009’s Salvation flopped. The new one has been hit hard by critics so far, but fan interest helped drive it to a $2.3 million Tuesday start.
While these films are hoping to win the July 4 holiday, they will still have to beat Jurassic World and Inside Out. World won the box office for the third straight weekend.
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