Hail, Caesar!, the all-star Hollywood comedy from Joel and Ethan Coen, started off strongly on Thursday night, topping Pride and Prejudice and Zombies before the two go head to head this weekend.
The Coen Brothers movie only cost $22 million to make, but features Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum and other stars. According to TheWrap, the Universal release took in $543,000 from Thursday previews at 1,815 locations.
The film is an ode to Old Hollywood and stars Clooney as a movie star who is kidnapped and Brolin as the fixer who has to find him. It has earned good reviews and is 75 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Sony’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, based on the Seth Grahame-Smith novel, is expected to be the big flop of the weekend. The movie took in $300,000 from 2,286 locations, notes The Hollywood Reporter. It is expected to hit around $10 million this weekend, if it’s lucky.
Lastly, the Nicholas Sparks adaptation The Choice opens this weekend and made $290,000 in previews. The Choice wasn’t met with good reviews and will probably struggle to hit the $13 million 2015’s The Longest Ride opened to.