‘Tron: Ares’ steers to $33 million opening at domestic box office

Disney’s “Tron: Ares” revved up to gross about $33.5 million at the domestic box office, notching the top spot for the weekend. The third installment of the decades-old “Tron” franchise fell short of analysts’ expectations of a more than $40 million opening. The sci-fi adventure film reportedly had a budget of about $180 million. “Let’s give ‘Tron’ credit for being one of very few long-running franchises that can grab a No. 1 debut over 40 years after the first film,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Comscore. While it outperformed the tepid debut of the first “Tron,” which in 1982 earned $16.7 million, adjusted for inflation, “Tron: Ares” fell well short of the opening weekend success of “Tron: Legacy” ($65 million, adjusted for inflation) in 2010. Paramount Pictures’ “Roofman,” the dramatic re-telling of Jeffrey Manchester’s 2004 prison escape and subsequent hiding in a Toys “R” Us store, finished No. 2 at the box office, grossing an estimated $8 million. “This is a solid opening for a character-driven comedy about a fugitive living a double life who falls for a divorced mom,” said David A. Gross, who writes industry newsletter FranchiseRe, noting that character comedies open to around $6.4 million domestically on average. Third overall at the domestic box office was Warner Bros. Pictures’ “One Battle After Another” ($6.67 million), which has continued to hold on with a $54 million gross during its three-week run. Warner Bros. Discovery is the parent company of CNN. The No. 4 movie this weekend was Universal Pictures’ “Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie” ($3.35 million), followed by Sony Pictures’ “Soul on Fire” ($3 million). Dergarabedian called “Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie” an “unsung hero of the month” because, while it hasn’t generated huge earnings, it’s been a mainstay for audiences since it opened. “It’s a very rare movie, in as much as it’s a G-rated film. Usually it’s PG movies that attract the family audience,” he said. October has lacked the blockbusters that studios have instead slated for the last six weeks of the year, like “Wicked: For Good” (November 21), “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” (December 5) and “Avatar: Fire and Ash” (December 19), but still boasts a wide range of genres and independent films. The only downside, according to Dergarabedian, is that moviegoers “have to research and find the movies” that really grab them.