Having played in theaters worldwide for a full month,The Accountant 2is now in the home stretch of its run. And a lot is on the line. Even if it doesn’t become profitable theatrically, which it probably won’t, the movie has the opportunity to save face by passing the coveted $100 million mark worldwide. It’s just $5 million shy at the last count, which means that it could pass the milestone as quickly as this weekend. Directed byGavin O’Connor, the action sequel starsBen AffleckandJon Bernthalin the lead roles.
The moment thatThe Accountant 2drops on streaming, it’ll start leaking theaters. Two other recent films aimed at a similar, older male audience —A Working ManandThe Amateur— also seem to have concluded their runs painfully short of the $100 million mark.The Accountant 2is more expensive than both, meaning that it absolutely needs to collect every last penny that it can while it’s still playing in theaters.The Amateurseems to have stalled at under $95 million, whileA Working Manis stuck at $99 million.
With $60 million domestically and $95 million worldwide,The Accountant 2is now within touching distance of what will likely be its final box office achievement. Themovie cost a reported $80 million to produce, which means that it needed to make over $150 million worldwide to break even. But unlikethe first film, which was distributed by Warner Bros.,The Accountant 2is distributed by Amazon MGM. Their films are designed for a home video audience; theatrical runs for Amazon projects are mainly marketing maneuvers. Case in point, last year’sRed One, which was a big hit with audiences but didn’t recover its massive $250 million reported budget in theaters.
‘The Accountant 2’ Was Embraced by Its Target Audience
The Accountant 2,A Working Man, andThe Amateur’s box office performances also serve as a rebuttal towhat directorSteven Soderberghsaidabout the commercial failure ofBlack Bagearlier this year. Despite being the top-rated film of his career, according to Rotten Tomatoes, the spy thriller wasn’t able to recover its reported budget of $50 million. Soderbergh suggested that mid-budget, star-driven studio movies no longer have a viable market. But the key difference between his movie and the three others is audience response.The Accountant 2holds a 92% audience score onRotten Tomatoes;A Working ManandThe Amateurare in the same range.Black Bag, on the other hand,only has a 70% audience score. Had the movie been more popular in its target demographic, it might have emerged as a success as well.
Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
The Accountant 2
