David Ayer's Alaskan survival drama took $30.1 million overseas and a softer $20 million in North America, against an $82 million budget.
Brad Pitt's survival drama Heart of the Beast opened to $50.1 million worldwide, split between $30.1 million from 63 international markets and a softer $20 million in North America.
David Ayer directs the Paramount thriller, which casts Pitt as James Belmont, a Special Forces veteran who survives a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness and then has to walk 58 miles to safety with his combat dog. Ayer's previous film was the action picture The Beekeeper, but the reception here points to something more emotional.
The domestic number put the film third on a busy weekend that saw four titles land above $19 million, behind Avengers: Endgame Encore and Sony's Resident Evil. A $20 million start is solid but not spectacular for a movie that cost $82 million and was greenlit under Paramount's previous leadership, so Heart of the Beast will lean on word of mouth and international staying power to climb out of the red during its theatrical run.
The early signs point that way. Audiences graded the film A- on CinemaScore, and critics have it at 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. Older moviegoers, who have been slow to return to cinemas since the pandemic, showed up in force, with the over-45 crowd making up close to half the audience. The material fits Pitt: a gruelling trek through the wilderness with a dog at his side, the kind of Americana survival story that has historically played strongest in North American theatres.
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