Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull seems well on its way to a phenomenal holiday weekend. Daily Variety reports that the film grossed an Estimated $4.5 million from midnight shows alone in the U.S. after raking in about $2.2 million overseas on Wednesday. The opening-day total hasn’t yet been released, but there is speculation that the movie earned as much as $30 million in North America on Thursday.
The strength of the iconic franchise paired with favorable reviews should propel Crystal Skull to one of the most lucrative Memorial Day holiday openings on the books. Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End set the high-water mark last year by taking in $139.7 million domestically and $251 million overseas during the four-day period.
Featuring visual effects by Industrial Light & Magic, Crystal Skull is currently playing in France, Belgium and Switzerland. French audiences were particularly kind on opening day, giving the film the best welcome of any Hollywood movie this year. The pic launchs on Thursday and Friday in most other international markets. India gets it on May 30 and Japan on June 21.
Stateside, the latest Indiana Jones Adventure is the only film opening in wide release. Its toughest competition comes from holdovers The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian from Disney and Walden Media, and Iron Man from Paramount. Getting a very limited release today is Postal, director Uwe Boll’s dark comedy based on the video game from Vivendi Games and developer Running with Scissors. Other films rolling out in a handful of theaters include the John Cusack political satire War, Inc. from FirstLook Features and Sony Pictures Classic’s release of The Children of Huang Shi.
