Mortal Kombat II Box Office Might Beat Devil Wears Prada 2, But There’s an Asterisk
The latest box office predictions for Warner Bros.’ Mortal Kombat II may have put the action fantasy sequel ahead of The Devil Wears Prada 2, which has already exceeded its pre-release projections nearly a week after its theatrical debut. This comes ahead of the newest Mortal Kombat movie’s long-awaited theatrical release tomorrow, May 8.
Per Deadline, Warner Bros. is reportedly expecting Mortal Kombat II to get around $35 million domestically during its opening weekend, which is a slightly lower number than its original prediction of $50 million. As for its international gross, the studio believes that the highly anticipated sequel will earn around $30 million, potentially bringing its total opening weekend gross to around $65 million worldwide. This projection would definitely give Mortal Kombat II a chance to nab the top spot at the box office, beating The Devil Wears Prada 2, which is expected to be in the low $40M range this weekend domestically.
Why would there be an asterisk to Mortal Kombat II’s box office beating The Devil Wears Prada 2?
However, Mortal Kombat II’s box office victory over The Devil Wears Prada 2 isn’t guaranteed yet, due to the massive global influence of the Meryl Streep-led sequel. Karl Urban‘s action-packed fantasy movie doesn’t really have the same appeal as the star-studded fashion film worldwide, since the Disney brand tends to fare better internationally. This is especially true in Europe, where a lot of the sequel’s scenes were filmed.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 is expected to receive between $107-117 million globally this weekend, with around $65-75 million coming from the international market. Should the sequel continue to overperform at the box office, there would be no chance for Mortal Kombat II to compete against it. That’s why it’s interesting to see if Mortal Kombat II would also exceed box office expectations, given how it has been garnering better reviews from critics than the previous installment.
Mortal Kombat II will feature the return of Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han and Sub-Zero, Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion, and Max Huang as Kung Lao. Joining them are several new characters in the form of Karl Urban as Johnny Cage, Adeline Rudolph as Kitana, Tati Gabrielle as Jade, Martyn Ford as Emperor Shao Kahn, Damon Herriman as Netherrealm demon Quan Chi, Desmond Chiam as Edenian King Jerrod, and Ana Thu Nguyen as Queen Sindel.
(Source: Deadline)
Source: Comingsoon.net