The weekend proved to be much bigger than everyone expected at the box office. "Demos Slejer: Infinite Castle" led the road with a record opening of $ 70 million. Everything else was shot for second place. Well, technical third, since the "conjunction: the last rituals" ($ 25.6 million) landed at number two after their mass opening last week. In the "Long Walk" case, it was the case to have to settle for a fairly distant fourth place, although it's not as bad as it can sound on the surface.

Lionsgate's "Long Walk", based on Steven King's book of the same name, opened $ 11.7 million at home. It also ended behind Downton Opatija: The Grand Final "($ 18.1 million), who admitted he was going for a very different crowd. In any case, it seems to be a disappointing surface result. But diving deeper into the numbers, it is one of those "good enough" situations that we could actually use more on the modern market.

Directed by Francis Lawrence, from the fame "Games of Hunger", this King adaptation brings a very modest budget of just $ 20 million before marketing. So, while opening below $ 12 million is not huge, it is good for a very responsible budget movie, such as this one. It also helps that the "long walk" is filled with elleveled views so farthat can help him in the coming weeks. There are also overseas gross, which have not yet increased, to consider.

The film takes place in a dystopian version of the United States where one boy from each state is selected to participate in an annual competition. The winner will be given what he wants. To win, they need to go at a pace of three miles per hour without stopping. The drop below that speed, you get a warning. Get three warnings, and you are out - dispersively shot in the head by a military lawmaker traveling with the group. The cast includes Cooper Hoffman ("Saturday night"), David Onsonson ("Alien: Romulus") and Mark Hamil ("Starwells War").

In terms of comparisons, this is not far from 2023 Bugiman, which appeared on $ 82.3 million after opening $ 12.3 million that summer. Depending on how things are shaking, there is still very hope that this could make it over/under $ 50 million globally, which is likely to be enough to make a profit.

Lionsgate was extremely stunning here, and that's the key. If this film cost $ 50 million, we would have discussed a very different conversation about how disappointing it is that such a valued film is ignored by the audience. Would it be nice if more people appeared That is now ranked as the highest ranked movie Steven King of all time? Of course, but this is a dark story that would never have the same mass appeal as something like "that", for example.

This is a project that has been in and out of development for decades, with various directors coming and going. The fact that Lawrence and Lyonsgate have finally made him is nothing shy of a little miracle. That's going to be a very good movie, according to most accounts, is also great. Between VOD, streaming, overseas box office and eventual sales of Blu-ray/DVD, this will be good. Wille has found his audience over time and will make money. It won't be a big hit, but you don't need everything.

Box office still struggling to recover from pandemic. One thing that helps is to have a greater volume of product available in cinemas. Having reasonably budgeted, low risks/high reward films like this in cinemas more regularly as counter-program is something we could use more. A modest hit, in the end, is still a hit - money is money, after all - and this can easily become a modest hit. It can and should be more often than it is now, and we hope that other study pay attention.

The "Long Walk" is now in theaters.