"The lackluster home field reception for Paramount's
Terminator Genisys, which has a three-day estimate of $28.7M and a five-day estimate of $44.1M, calls into question the domestic box-office draw of
Arnold Swarzenegger and the overall viability of the once-redoubtable
Terminator franchise itself.
After all 2009's
Terminator Salvation opened in 3,530 venues with a three-day estimate of $42.6M, a $12,056 per screen average.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, made $44M in 3,504 theaters, a $12,568 average on its three-day July 4th weekend in 2003.
Terminator Genisys was in 3,758 theaters yet only made a $7,637 average.
Overseas coin, however, the likely reason that anyone revisted making another
Terminator in the first place, looks like it might save the day. Grosses came in at $74M from 44 markets over the weekend and an $85M international cume.
Terminator Genisys opened at #1 in Russia ($12.5M at 1,150 locations), Korea ($11.1M from 1,275 venues), Mexico ($6.2M from 670 locations), India ($2.8M from 600 venues), Malaysia ($2.3M at 131 sites), Taiwan ($2.1M at 80 locations), Hong Kong ($1.9M from 44 venues), and Ukraine ($666K from 235 locations). Though not landing at the #1 spot it has also opened in the UK ($5.6M from 536 sites), France ($3.8M at 680 locations), Brazil ($4M from 549 cinemas), Australia ($4.7M at 258 cinemas), the Philippines ($1.4M at 149 sites), and Venezuela ($2.4M at 75 venues).
It has yet to open in Germany and Italy, which it does on July 9th and the next day in Spain and Japan. A release date has yet to be chosen for China.
At Genisys's reported pre-advertising cost of $155M it will be the international markets that dictate whether we will be hearing of Skynet and Judgment Day in the near future. Given that Paramount has two more
Terminator films slated to go, in 2016 and 2017, all eyes will be on those rollouts."