North American moviegoers spurned sequels this weekend with Sony’s “Men in Black: International” heading for a modest $26 million debut while “Shaft” will finish with a dismal $7.3 million in seventh place.“Men in Black: International,” the fourth iteration of the sci-fi comedy franchise, is performing under expectations, which had been in the $30 million range at 4,224 locations.
The three previous “Men In Black” films, starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, all scored North American debut weekends of more than $50 million in 1997, 2002 and 2012.“Men in Black: International” stars Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson as the black-suited agents dealing with a baffling series of alien attacks against Earth.
Reviewers have been unimpressed, giving the film a 25% score on Rotten Tomatoes.Should the Saturday morning estimates hold, “Men in Black: International” will have the lowest gross of a first-place title since the second weekend of “Shazam!” led the April 12-14 chart with $24.5 million.
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