Ryan Gosling action comedy kicks off the summer movie season with a disappointing debut at the North American box office

“The Fall Guy,” an action comedy starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, kicked off the summer movie season without much fanfare. The film, backed by Universal and directed by David Leitch, took in below expectations: 28.5 million of dollars from 4,002 North American theaters on debut, according to Variety, quoted by News.ro.

At the start of the weekend, “The Fall Guy” was expected to take in at least $30 million to $40 million. The film cost $140 million to make, so it also needs some box office interest- international to recoup its budget during its theatrical run.

“The Fall Guy” grossed $25.4 million overseas, bringing its global total to $65.4 million.

“The Fall Guy” stars Gosling as a former stuntman who tries to track down a missing movie star (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) in order to save a major studio film being directed by his ex-girlfriend (Blunt ).

“We’re incredibly proud of this film,” said Universal’s president of domestic distribution, Jim Orr. “It’s an exciting and charming film that I have no doubt will have a strong run.”

“Challengers” dropped to third place

“Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” was second on the chart with $8 million. The film added $6.4 million internationally for a weekend total of $14.5 million worldwide.

“Challengers,” which topped last weekend with $15 million, dropped to third with $7.65 million in its second outing, down 49 percent from its debut.

After 10 days of release, the film, produced by Amazon MGM studios and director Luca Guadagnino, generated 29.4 million dollars. “Challengers” has a significant price tag of around $55 million, so it needs to keep going at that pace to justify that budget.

“Tarot,” debuting in fourth place with $6.5 million, is a horror film about friends who unleash evil from a cursed deck of tarot cards. The film has terrible reviews, which won’t help it market success.

“Godzilla x Kong: A New Empire” rounded out the top five with $4.5 million in its sixth weekend. The production had $188 million domestically and $546 million worldwide, being the second highest-grossing film of this year.