Meanwhile, Sydney Sweeney’s boxing biopic “Christy” was knocked out before the end of the first round with a dreadful $1.3 million premiere.

Predator: Badlands stalks and lands franchise-best $80 million global premiere

Meanwhile, Sydney Sweeney's boxing biopic "Christy" was knocked out before the end of the first round with a dreadful $1.3 million premiere.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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November 9, 2025 6:20 p.m. ET

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Elle Fanning in 'Predator: Badlands'. Credit:

Courtesy of 20th Century Studios

The *Predator *franchise has found its apex assassin.

Director Dan Trachtenberg's third entry in the sci-fi action franchise proved not only his best, but the entire series' best at the box office this weekend. *Predator: Badlands *hunted down a staggering $40 million domestically and $80 million abroad, narrowly edging out *Alien vs. Predator*'s $38 million domestic haul in 2004, per Comscore; though, of course, *AVP*'s adjusted-for-inflation $66 million domestic box office would wipe the floor with *Badlands*.

It's a good thing the ninth installment in the franchise — begun by director John McTiernan, writers Jim and John Thomas, and star Arnold Schwarzenegger with 1987's *Predator* — was so successful, because the rest of the picture of this weekend's box office was anything but.

Sydney Sweeney in 'Christy'.

Black Bear Pictures

Despite a broad selection of new releases to lure audiences to the cineplex, moviegoers largely went to *Predator: Badlands* or just stayed home. The top 10 cumulative domestic gross of $74.9 million is a vast improvement on last weekend's $42.8 million, the worst Halloween weekend figure in over three decades. Still, little of it comes from new releases.

The next two down the chain from *Badlands *on the domestic charts, and four down globally, are returning titles. The Colleen Hoover-adapted romantic drama *Regretting You *scored the No. 2 spot on its second week of release, with a $7.1 million domestic haul and $12.8 million globally. The film has taken in $71 million so far. Supernatural serial killer sequel *The Black Phone 2 *keeps calling back, meanwhile, and the box office keeps answering. Director Scott Derrickson and star Ethan Hawke's second outing earned No. 3 domestically with a $5.3 million take in its fourth week, and No. 4 abroad with $9.2 million, leaving it with $120.4 million cumulatively.

Among the weekend's new releases, none did as poorly as Sydney Sweeney's boxing biopic *Christy*. Though the beneficiary of an all-out marketing bonanza, the harrowing true-life story of champ Christy Martin earned a shockingly low $1.3 million in its premiere, not enough to even crack the top 10. With a release on just over 2,000 screens, that's a pitiful per-theater-average of $649. *Christy *premiered to a good deal of acclaim at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, but now marks the star's third movie this year to premiere well under $2 million, following Ron Howard's* Eden* and Western *Americana*.

'Regretting You' barely ekes out a win in worst weekend of the year at the box office

'Predator: Badlands' director reveals what that 'ironic' ending twist means for a potential sequel

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An instructive contrast comes in the case of *Die My Love*, the new film from renowned Scottish auteur Lynne Ramsay. Like *Christy*, the film sports a starry cast in Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, premiered at a prestigious film festival (in this case Cannes), was acquired by a specialty distributor (Black Bear for *Christy*, MUBI for *Die My Love*), and was granted a generous marketing and publicity campaign. But unlike *Die My Love*, a polarizing and confrontational look at postpartum depression, Christy's hopeful message of finding your voice and overcoming adversity was designed to appeal to audiences, not challenge them. Yet it's *Die My Love *that cracked the top 10 this week, earning $2.8 million domestically to secure the No. 8 spot.****

Next weekend's new release stable is packed to near overcapacity, with at least two titles possessing the horsepower to overtake *Predator: Badlands*.

The first is *The Running Man*, the latest comedic action-thriller starring millennials' answer to Tom Cruise: Glen Powell. The film is a new adaptation of the 1982 novel by Richard Bachmann (one of Stephen King's pseudonyms), the second film adaptation after the 1987 hit starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Powell's Ben Richards must evade a team of bloodthirsty hunters to win a massive cash prize in a dystopian game show.

The other contender is *Now You See Me: Now You Don't*, the third entry in the heist franchise begun by Boaz Yakin and Edward Ricourt. Directed this time around by *Zombieland *helmer Ruben Fleischer, *Now You Don't *pulls together a high-wattage cast of rising and veteran stars, from Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, and Isla Fisher, to Ariana Greenblatt and Dominic Sessa.

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Source: “EW Movies”