Red Sparrow Pulls In $1.2 Million In Thursday Previews

Jennifer Lawrence's spy drama Red Sparrow beat out Bruce Willis' Death Wish reboot in Thursday preview showings, bringing in $1.2 million to Death Wish's $650,000. (via Box Office Mojo)

Red Sparrow features the Oscar-winning Lawrence as Dominika Egorova, a prima ballerina turned Russian Spy. After Dominika's ballet career is derailed by an injury, she is tricked into attending the Sparrow School, where young people are put through a sadistic training process that teaches them to use both their minds and bodies as weapons. 

Red Sparrow, which follows Dominika's entanglement with a CIA agent (Joel Egerton), was directed by The Hunger Games' Francis Lawrence based off a script from A Cure for Wellness' Justin Haythe. The film, which is based on the novel of the same name, got middling reviews and currently sits at a 51 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. It is expected to take second place at the box office after Marvel's Black Panther with somewhere between $18 and $22 million.

Willis' Death Wish reboot was pushed from its initial November release date to give Willis and director Eli Roth more time to participate in the film's publicity campaign. The movie, a remake of the 1974 film of the same name, stars Willis as Paul Kersey, a doctor who seeks revenge after the violence in the streets of Chicago spills into his own home.

Death Wish has been trashed by critics, with a 14 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Elisabeth Shue, Vincent D'Onofrio, Dean Norris, Kimberly Elise, and Camila Morrone also star in the movie, which is expected to take third place with somewhere around $13 to $15 million. Fourth place for the weekend should go to the Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams comedy Game Night with around $9 million.

The big box office story for the weekend, though, should once again be Black Panther. The well-reviewed Marvel flick is expected to take in $64.8 million in its third weekend in theaters. The movie, which stars Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, and Letitia Wright, had a massive $202 million opening weekend and currently sits at $763.3 million worldwide. (via Box Office Mojo)