Live Fast and Try Not to Die Hard
June 27, 2007
Live Free of Die Hard tried to get a head start on the competition tonight opening in over 3000 theaters. But will this strategy pay off?
The fourth, and what many are assuming will be the final, installment of the Die Hard series opens more than 12 years after the most recent installment and close to 20 years after the original. In many ways it is very similar to last year's Rocky Balboa, just with a little less time between installments. When that movie was able to mount a successful comeback, it must have made the executives a lot more bullish about Live Free of Die Hard chances.
Also making executing bullish are the reviews, which at 76% positive are the best the franchise has earned since first film earned 96% positive. On the other hand, while 76% positive is a strong score, it is also the weakest of the three films opening or expanding wide this week with Sicko scoring 88% positive and Ratatouille earning a still perfect score after 24 reviews.
Fortunately, Live Free of Die Hard doesn't share a large percentage of its target audience with either of those two films and it should prove effective at drawing in moviegoers. Look for $16 million tonight, $9 million on Thursday, $35 million over the weekend, and an easy path to $100 million in total. In fact, it should challenge Die Hard 2 for top spot in the franchise.
Filed under: Live Free or Die Hard