Zendaya Ready to Win the Weekend Box Office Match-Up
by EG
Zendaya's tennis drama Challengers is not likely to be a blow-out smash in its debut this weekend, but if it performs according to expectations, it should win the box-office race. Even a mediocre showing will probably be enough to slip past Civil War, the holdover that's been at the top of the charts over the past two weekends. Whether Zendaya is able to turn the movie into a profitable enterprise in the long run is another question. Read on for details.
Via Variety.
“Challengers” is getting ready to serve at the box office.
Director Luca Guadagnino’s sexy tennis drama made $1.9 million at the the box office in Thursday previews.
The Amazon MGM film, which stars Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist, is expected to make between $12 million and $15 million in its opening weekend. It’s poised to take the number one spot this weekend and beat A24’s “Civil War,” which has conquered the box office the last two weeks.
The trio of young stars play tennis pros caught in a personal and professional entanglement. Zendaya, who’s coming off the sci-fi blockbuster “Dune: Part Two,” plays Tashi Duncan, a former prodigy who had to retire from tennis after a serious injury. Mike Faist, who played Riff in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” is Art Donaldson, another tennis pro caught in a losing streak who later marries Tashi and is coached by her. And O’Connor, who won an Emmy and Golden Globe for playing young Prince Charles on “The Crown,” is Patrick Zweig, Art’s childhood friend and Tashi’s former lover. The three tennis champs’ careers and love lives cross paths, resulting in some high-stakes sports action and steamy love scenes.
“Challengers” was originally supposed to premiere last year at the Venice Film Festival, but was delayed by the actors strike. It carries a $55 million price tag, so it will need to keep serving at the box office to make a profit.
Get the rest of the story at Variety.