Ryan Gosling may not have won an Oscar playing Ken in last summer’s oft-nominated theatrical blockbuster Barbie, but he did steal the Academy Awards TV broadcast singing “I’m Just Ken” from the movie’s soundtrack.
Now, the versatile actor is back on the big screen headlining Universal Pictures’ actioner The Fall Guy. Gosling plays down-on-his-luck stuntman Colt Seavers, who must find the missing leading man during the production of his ex-girlfriend’s (Emily Blunt) new blockbuster movie. Eighty-five-year-old Lee Majors, who played Colt Seavers in the 1980s “The Fall Guy” TV series, along with co-star Heather Thomas, reportedly make cameo appearances in the movie.
The theatrical release is projected to generate almost $30 million in revenue across North American screens, topping the weekend box office through May 5, according to new data from BoxOfficeReport.com. The movie, which sold $3.1 million in Thursday screenings, has already generated about $8.4 in revenue following its April 24 international release.
The numbers should easily enable Fall Guy to top Disney’s 25th anniversary re-release of 1999’s Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, which is projected to finish No. 2 over the weekend with $11.5 million in incremental revenue. The original movie sold more than $1 billion in tickets, making it one of the biggest global theatrical blockbusters following Titanic in 1997.
Rounding out the theatrical podium is projected to be last weekend’s winner, Amazon MGM Studios’ Challengers, starring Zendaya as a budding tennis star in the middle of a love triangle. The movie is projected to sell another $8.4 million in tickets, down 44% from its $30.1 million debut through April 28.
The weekend’s other new release is Screen Gems’ horror comedy Tarot, which finds a group of friends unwittingly unleash evil hidden in a deck of Tarot cards. The movie is expected to generate around $7 million in revenue.
Box office returnees include: Warner Bros. Pictures’ Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire with a projected $4.9 million in ticket sales, upping its global tally near $528 million ($188.5 million domestically); A24’s politically charged Civil War with a projected $4.6 million ($95 million/$61 million); Lionsgate’s Unsung Hero with a projected $3.8 million in ticket sales ($13 million globally); Universal’s Abigail with a projected $2.7 million in ticket sales ($33 million worldwide).