The Focus Features film “Lisa Frankenstein” has kicked off with a quiet start at the domestic box office, collecting $1.7 million across 3,144 locations on its opening day, which includes $700,000 from Thursday previews. This positions the film likely behind the second weekend of Apple Studios’ “Argylle”, which had a disappointing start last weekend.
Projected to wrap up the weekend around $4 million, “Lisa Frankenstein” isn’t off to a strong start. However, its modest production budget of $13 million means Focus Features may face a softened financial blow if the film doesn’t maintain a presence in theaters. Mixed reviews and lukewarm audience reception, reflected in a “B” grade from Cinema Score’s early audience surveys, don’t seem to bolster much excitement.
Penned by Diablo Cody, “Lisa Frankenstein” is a PG-13 rated romance that tells the story of a teenage mad scientist who decides to build her own boyfriend from a corpse. The film stars Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse, with Zelda Williams at the helm.
The broader box office landscape is looking to be quiet, with no domestic releases expected to exceed $10 million. The Super Bowl weekend is traditionally not a major time for studios to release blockbuster films, and this year appears to be quieter than usual.
Meanwhile, “Argylle” from Universal is set to retain the top spot at the box office despite experiencing a 62% drop from its opening weekend of $17.4 million. The film’s reception has been far from positive, and it struggles in a remarkably uncompetitive market. Directed by Matthew Vaughn, “Argylle” may not even surpass a domestic gross of $30 million in its first 10 days, a surprisingly low figure given its genre appeal, star-studded cast, and the $200 million investment by Apple. While the tech giant may not aim for profitability on all its theatrical ventures, this film appears to be a significant disappointment.
In other news, Warner Bros. is re-releasing Denis Villeneuve’s initial “Dune” in premium large formats in anticipation of the sequel’s release on March 1. The sci-fi epic added $570,000 from Friday screenings. During its original 2021 run, “Dune” garnered $402 million globally, despite a simultaneous streaming release on HBO Max in some regions.