IF To Win Opening Weekend at the Box Office

IF to beat The Strangers - Chapter 1 while Back to Black falls flat this weekend.

John Krasinski's IF hit theaters this weekend, and it's getting mixed reactions from critics. The family film is currently up on Rotten Tomatoes with a 50% score, however, the movie is doing much better with audiences. Not only is IF up on the review site with an 80% audience score but it is also set to win the weekend at the box office. According to Deadline, as of Saturday morning, it's looking like IF will take home $30 million this weekend, which is lower than its projected $40 million. 

As for the weekend's other new releases, The Strangers – Chapter 1 is expected to take away $12.3 million this weekend. The franchise's previous installment, 2018's The Strangers: Prey at Night, debuted with $10.4 million. However, the new horror flick is not faring well on Rotten Tomatoes. It currently has a 13% critics score and a 40% audience score. 

The weekend's other new release, the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black, will likely end up in fifth place this weekend with only $3 million. The movie is faring a bit better than The Strangers – Chapter 1 on Rotten Tomatoes with a 35% critics score and 80% audience score (although, that's with less than 50 audience reviews). 

Returning releases Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and The Fall Guy are likely to land in third and fourth place with $23.5 million to $25 million and $8 million, respectively. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is currently in its second weekend and has an 81% critics score and 79% audience score. The film is expected to reach $100 million domestically this weekend. The Fall Guy is currently in its third weekend, and will likely surpass $60 million domestically. The Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt movie is on Rotten Tomatoes with an 82% critics score and 87% audience score.

What Is IF About? 

You can read Paramount's official description for IF here: "From writer and director John Krasinski, IF is about a girl who discovers that she can see everyone's imaginary friends – and what she does with that superpower – as she embarks on a magical adventure to reconnect forgotten IFs with their kids"

In IF, Krasinski directs a cast that includes Ryan Reynolds, Cailey Fleming, Fiona Shaw, and himself as the film's human characters. The star-studded ensemble of IFs features the voices of Steve Carell, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr., Emily Blunt, Blake Lively, Matt Damon, George Clooney, Maya Rudolph, Bradley Cooper, Jon Stewart, Sam Rockwell, Sebastian Maniscalco, Awkwafina, Richard Jenkins, Keegan Michael Key, Matthew Rhys, and Christopher Meloni.

Stay tuned for more box office updates.