The film, which isn’t out in the UK until next week, is set to miss its $ 175 million budget by quite some distance.
Charlie Hunnam fronts the epic, which has been panned by critics despite a reasonably positive audience reaction (B+, according to CinemaScore).
It is currently on track for just $ 14.3 million in box office receipts in its opening weekend – even lower than the discouraging projections of just over $ 20 million a few days ago.
That adjusted figure is based on the fact it made $ 5.3 million from 3,702 cinemas on its opening day (Friday), although of course it’s not impossible for Saturday and Sunday’s numbers to be better.
It seems, then, that it could even be beaten by Snatched – starring Amy Schumer and a returning Goldie Hawn – which was similarly bashed by critics but was made on a considerably smaller budget.
That film is, according to Variety, pacing towards a $ 16 million opening weekend.
Both newcomers are, however, far short of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, which enjoys a second week at Number One.
That film took $ 16.4 million on Friday alone, and is expected to net $ 63.5 million before the weekend is out.
King Arthur has been plagued by negative attention, heightened this week when a clip of David Beckham’s cameo was released – and swiftly panned.
Critics have pulled no punches. In one particularly scathing critique, Variety said: “A smoking new riff on the famous sword-in-the-stone tale that makes Monty Python and the Holy Grail look like a work of rigorous historical scholarship by comparison.”
The Hollywood Reporter agreed: “Loud, bombastic and thuddingly obvious, this is a vulgar movie for vulgar times.”
King Arthur lands in UK cinemas on May 19.
Daily Express :: Entertainment Feed
