If the reviews are good I think it could crack 80-100 MM in the U.S. and do a bit better overseas. Maybe 200-250 MM worldwide?
Straight Outta Compton had a 60 MM opening and made 160 MM in total in the U.S. but had very little appeal overseas. Bohemian Rhapsody will do much better overseas, I think.
Look at the below for the top highest grossing biopics.
www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=musicbio.htm
believe it or not NWA...is more popular and loved by American youth than Queen. Even older people....NWA has that gangsta storyline that everyone seems to love these days. That's why it did so well...
Legit predictions from reliable box office sites are projecting the film to debut in America with an opening weekend of around $30 million which would make it the 2nd largest ever here for musical biopics after the smash hit "Straight Outta Compton."
After that, who is to say? Much will depend on critics reviews, word of mouth and competition.
I've been following box office numbers personally for almost 20 years.
My educated guess is that while $100 million is far out of the question in America, I can see it finishing it's run in the $50 to $60 million range and for Queen that would be a bonafide hit.
One variable here that could change it up a bit is the awards season. If early indicators are accurate and Rami Malek's performance of Freddie are as good as they say, if he starts getting a slew of Best Actor nominations then the film will perform even better. Same goes for the film itself, the more nominations it garners, the more the acclaim will attract folks to see it.
As for the rest of the world, considering Queen's long time popularity and Freddie's ascent into god-like status, I would venture to say $100 million from all other territories combined is almost a sure thing.
I'm expecting this to do well in the USA and in Europe. I'm hoping it starts a new trend in movies. I just wish that they had thought ahead with this movie as far as the new Elton film. There has to be a bunch of characters that are going to be in both films, I wish that the actors who portrayed them in BR would have also played them in Rocket Man.
. But at the same time, I doubt it'll be a huge box office hit - it doesn't have a star-studded cast, or a highly socially relevant topic, .
The same could be said for the WWRY musical - they were brave to launch it on the strength of their own name and the power of the music - they didn't have any 'big name' star to carry it but it took off on its own merits and appeal....I'm hopeful the movie will perform similarly without 'star' casting.
One other thing worth noting (unfortunately) is the Bryan Singer effect which is to say will his past behavior, accusations of sexual misconduct etc be brought up again by the media both during the film's opening and during awards season? Such things, whether true or not, could torpedo the movie completely.
Tim said it wasn't a reunion because they were in the studio at different times. The photo of Brian and Tim would've probably been done without Roger anywhere near. You can understand why it isn't a completely new recording.
