‘IF’ Befriends $1.75M In Previews; ‘Strangers – Chapter 1’ Scares Up $1.2M – Friday AM Box Office Update

deadline.com:

John Krasinski’s imaginary friend feature IF made $1.75M in Thursday night previews that began at 4PM. It’s been awhile since we had a live-action PG-rated feature, so comps are tough.

The outlook heading into the weekend is $40M. The highest grossing opening for an original live-action PG film was Hop at $37.5M.

Reviews are challenged at 51% Rotten, but there’s a better than anticipated audience reaction I understand. If you need comps, well, IF is close to Zootopia’s $1.7M previews and Boss Baby‘s $1.5M — but those were animated movies.

Lionsgate’s reboot of The Strangers—Chapter 1 drew $1.2M from previews that began at 5M as well. Booked in 2,856 locations in North America, tracking shows $7M-$9M for the $8.5M budgeted movie from Renny Harlin about a young couple (Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez) after their car breaks down in a spooky town.