Midnight Madness: Terminator Takes in $3 Million at AM/PM Shows

Christian Bale tries to hand over a ticket to an irascible usher at a midnight “Terminator” screening.  

You know, recently I’ve been saying that despite the big media buzz around “Terminator Salvation,” I didn’t know anyone who was really excited about it. Well, I guess I was wrong. According to Variety, there were about $3 million worth of people who were excited enough to go see the midnight show of the movie on Thursday/Friday.

Interestingly, Warner Brothers isn’t releasing the number of theaters that held midnight shows. “Wolverine” had 1,595 theaters for its midnight unveiling and made almost $5 million; in March, “Watchmen” made $4.6 million from midnight shows at an unspecificed number of theaters (and considering that film’s total box office, apparently everyone who was going to go see it was at those midnight shows).

So what does this say about “Terminator Salvation?” Is it going to blow away the box office over the long holiday weekend? Right now the studio is predicting over $50 million, but that’s setting the bar rather low in my opinion; I think the expectations have to be equal to ”Star Trek’s” $70 million + opening weekend.  If this movie came in at say, $55 million for a three-day period, I think there would be a lot of disappointment. The main competition, after all, is the family oriented “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” and holdovers “Star Trek” and “Wolverine.”

So here’s my prediction–and my predictions suck, by the way: “Terminator Salvation” will shock by upsetting “Star Trek” with an opening in the $84 million range. I think it will benefit by people feeling an urge to just get out and see a big summer movie. What do you think?