Hypnotic marks a career-wide worst opening for Ben Affleck

Robert Rodriguez’s latest movie Hypnotic faces an uphill battle at the box office. The movie, which stars Ben Affleck as its lead, opened to just $2.4 million in the US over the May 14-16 weekend.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Hypnotic only opened in 2,118 theaters, and its low opening figures mean it's the worst first weekend of both Affleck’s and Rodriguez’s careers to date. Given it also had a reported budget of $65 million, it looks set to lose tens of millions at the box office.

The movie faced delays during production after Solstice Studios closed in 2021, which had been due to release it. It was picked up by Ketchup Entertainment and Relativity Media, but it’s been a long time since it was filmed at the tail end of 2021. However, Hypnotic still has an international release on the way, which could bolster numbers.

The movie stars Affleck as Detective Danny Rourke, a father determined to find his missing daughter. When he finds himself spiraling as he begins investigating some reality-bending crimes, he must work with a gifted psychic (played by Alice Braga) to hunt down the one man who may know where his daughter is.

J. D. Pardo, Hala Finley, Dayo Okeniyi, Jeff Fahey, Jackie Earle Haley, and William Fichtner all also star in the thriller. As well as being in the director’s chair, Rodriguez wrote the screenplay with Max Borenstein, produced, and edited the movie.