There was no press screening this week for “The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” a new period horror film set aboard a merchant ship. The first reviews came on Thursday, which is also when previews started for the film.
The Universal release is set to earn $6.5 million in its opening weekend, from 2,715 locations. ‘Demeter’ is looking at a fifth-place debut. Its budget is reported to be at around $45 million.
What else did you expect from an August release that Universal basically dumped in theaters. Reviews have been stale, turning in a 48% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences didn’t love it either, with Cinema Score’s survey resulting in a mediocre “B-” grade.
The film did however get praise-worthy reactions from Stephen King and Guillermo del Toro, but that wasn’t enough to build any buzz for the film. I didn’t even know ‘Demeter’ existed until a few weeks ago. There’s barely been any marketing from Universal. Del Toro and King’s reactions do tempt me in buying a ticket to see it this coming week.
Based on a chapter of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” the film tells the tale of a merchant ship and its crew, who find themselves at the mercy of a vampire. Directed by André Øvredal (“Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”), the film stars Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham and David Dastmalchian.
Meanwhile, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” continued their dominance at the box-office. Gerwig’s film added $31.4 million from 4,178 locations in its fourth weekend of release. It is set to become the top-grossing Warner Bros. release of all time, domestically, overtaking “The Dark Knight” record at $534 million.
Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” is projected to earn $17.2 million for the weekend, which would bring its domestic ticket sales to an impressive $262 million.