Michael Fassbender’s $46 Million Sci-Fi Epic Off to a Rough Start at the Box Office

It was an action-packed weekend at the domestic box office, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day finally relinquishing its crown after six weekends at the number-one spot. The movie was unseated by Practical Magic 2, which grossed around $30 million in its debut frame. Despite losing the top spot, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is overtaking the $936 million all-time domestic box office record of Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens as we speak. On Monday, it will become the highest-grossing movie of all time in North America. Meanwhile, Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey became the biggest film in Universal's history, while also passing the $600 million mark domestically.

Lower down the chart, however, a buzzy sci-fi original debuted with meek results last week. The movie in question hails from South Korea, where it had a spectacular theatrical run, grossing more than $35 million. Directed by the auteur Na Hong-jin, the film features Korean stars Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, and Jung Ho-yeon, alongside Taylor Russell, Michael Fassbender, and Alicia Vikander. The movie premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, and is sitting at a "Certified Fresh" 80% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, whose consensus describes it as "an unhinged sci-fi epic that boasts awe-inspiring production design and amusingly quaint visual effects."