According to Deadline, Street Fighter, the video game reboot from Paramount, Legendary, and Capcom, pulled in $4 million in Thursday previews, with the studio projecting a domestic opening north of $30 million and about $70 million worldwide. The film is the first release out of the Paramount and Warner Bros. merger.
The first movie the merged machine ships is not a prestige drama. It is a PG-13 street fight with a net production cost of $82 million, a 47 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, and a rollout of 3,500 theaters heavy on IMAX. The merger's opening product is a video game film, and the studio is asking the audience to do the math its balance sheet does not want done. A $70 million opening against an $82 million movie is a preview, not a payday.
The $4 million in previews has a lot of fans in it. It came from shows that started at 2 in the afternoon, including a 7 p.m. fan showtime with bonus footage and giveaways. That is a premium ticket for people who already paid for the game. The comps the studio is using are telling. Mortal Kombat 2, an R-rated film, pulled $5.2 million in previews and $16.8 million on its first Friday. Sonic pulled $3 million in previews and $20.9 million on Friday. On that math, $4 million in previews supports the $30 million projection, and the fan showtime is not a stunt. It is the new preview engine.
The audience is already seated, too. About 21 percent of K-12 schools are out for the mid-autumn break, and the movie is a video game film, so the demographic is the product. The only question left is what the number means after the weekend. An opening is a down payment now, and the merger's first receipt is a $30 million down payment on a $70 million world. The film has 47 percent of critics and the full support of the new studio system. One of them is wrong, and the other one has the ticket scanner.
YOUR TURN: The 7 p.m. fan showtime is the new preview engine. Would you buy a ticket to a movie that previews with bonus footage and giveaways, or is that the audience the studio should have had to earn?
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