Can CHALLENGERS serve up a tennis hit?

Some have tried, but none have succeeded…at the box office, that is. It seems that audiences aren’t that into watching movies about tennis. 

WIMBLEDON (2004) topped out at $17M. The incredibly entertaining BATTLE OF THE SEXES (2017) barely grossed more than $12M, and KING RICHARD may have served up an Oscar for Will Smith, but it got little love with only $15M at the box office – though its gross was no doubt hurt by WB’s regrettable policy of going day-and-date with its entire 2021 slate. And these are totals, not openings. 

Can CHALLENGERS break the tennis curse? Can it at least gross more than $20M? That’s a pretty low bar. 

Yesterday, MGM dropped a compelling trailer for the film (though it irks us to no end when a poster does not accompany trailers). Currently, awareness for the film sits at 12%, though that number is expected to rise. At least one would hope. Check back in a week or two to see if CHALLENGERS has what it takes to come out on top.