Wicker opens at No. 5 in US with $5.75 million, over half its reported $10 million budget

Centre · 1Wicker, a fantasy romance, earned a three-day total of $5.75 million in 1,471 US theaters in its opening weekend, according to Box Office Mojo figures cited by Screen Rant. That put it at No. 5 on the domestic chart. 1 Centre · 1The four films ahead of it were Clayface (No. 1), the documentary holdover You Can See Everything (No. 2), Wildwood (No. 3) and Street Fighter (No. 4). Its per-screen average of $3,908 placed it above several bigger-budget films playing in more theaters, including Other Mommy, Sense and Sensibility and Whalefall. 1 Centre · 1Screen Rant says the weekend gross already covers more than half of the film's reported $10 million budget. It adds that the break-even point is unknown but is probably below $25 million, since a major studio release typically needs to make back two and a half times its budget. 1

Centre · 2The film is based on Ursula Wills's short story "The Wicker Husband" and was co-written and co-directed by Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer. It is a period piece in which a lonely fisherwoman (Olivia Colman) hires a basket weaver (Peter Dinklage) to make her a husband. The living wicker man (Alexander Skarsgård) prompts a sexual awakening in her and unsettles the town. Elizabeth Debicki plays the Tailor's Wife. 1 2 Centre · 1It premiered at Sundance on January 24 and opened in US theaters on October 23. It is a US, UK and Australian co-production, with a UK release set for October 30 and an Australian one for November 5. 1 Centre · 1Screen Rant reported Rotten Tomatoes scores of 94% from critics and 93% from audiences on 26 October. Its follow-up piece the next day gave a 95% critics' score from 129 reviews and an audience score that had slipped from 94% to 92%. It said that is the second-highest audience score of Skarsgård's career, level with Lee at its debut and behind Pillion on the critics' side. 1 3

Centre · 1Screen Rant expects word of mouth and the international rollout to help the film, and it says the film could pass $25 million by the end of its run. It notes that Halloween may hurt attendance in the second weekend, but no major wide releases open that weekend, so competition comes only in early November, from titles such as Godzilla Minus Zero, Wild Horse Nine and The Cat in the Hat. 1 Centre · 1Collider, in an interview with the cast and directors, says the film's popularity grew after its Sundance debut, with its first trailer arriving seven months later, and that audiences have "come out in droves". The directors say the humour came naturally while expanding the short story. They also say the love scenes grew longer and steamier than scripted once Colman, Skarsgård and intimacy coordinator Ita O'Brien worked on them. Collider adds that Dev Patel was first attached to the Wicker Husband role before Skarsgård replaced him. 2