The Martian, starring Matt Damon and directed by Ridley Scott, launched Thursday night at the box office with the best Thursday previews since the August launch of Straight Outta Compton.
The 20th Century Fox sci-fi film brought in $2.5 million Thursday night, reports The Hollywood Reporter. It’s the best Thursday preview night since Compton started off with $4.9 million.
Based on Andy Weir’s best seller, the film has earned sterling reviews. It comes less than a year after Scott’s previous film, Exodus: Gods and Kings, failed to connect with critics and domestic audiences.
The Martian is looking to break the October debut record set by Warner Bros.’ Gravity in 2013. That film opened to $55.7 million and did have the advantage of being a much shorter film, which allowed for more daily screenings. The Martian runs 141 minutes, while Gravity was just 90 minutes.
Unfortunately, The Martian won’t have many IMAX screens to itself because Robert Zemeckis’ The Walk is only being screened in IMAX for its first weekend. It actually began screenings on Wednesday and took in $240,379 on that day, notes TheWrap. The Walk will be released in more theaters on Oct. 9.
There are other films hitting theaters this weekend. Lionsgate’s Sicario with Emily Blunt is going wide following two great weekends in limited release. The LGBT drama Freeheld and the documentary He Named Me Malala are opening in limited release.