'Men in Black: International' is headed for a franchise-worst opening weekend at the box office

That will mark the worst opening in the franchise's history.
The performance will be the latest dud in the summer movie season.
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Summer movies at the multiplex are currently in a funk, and it's not going to get any better this weekend.

Sony is projecting that its latest release, "Men in Black: International," will earn $30 million at the domestic box office this weekend. That will mark the lowest opening in the franchise by a wide margin. To date, the lowest opening for the franchise was the original "Men in Black" movie in 1997 with $51 million. But back then, that was a healthy first weekend ( counting inflation that would have been a $100 million opening today).

For Thursday preview screenings, "International" took in $3.1 million, but the studio started them at 4 p.m. instead of the typical 7 p.m. (or later) when most previews play. The fact that the movie only brought in $3 million at such an early start time may hint that it will perform lower over the weekend than Sony's projection.

It's just the latest example of the slog that is the current summer movie season.

Late May saw the release of Warner Bros.'s "Godzilla: King of the Monsters," which won the domestic box office, but with a weak $47.7 million showing (the movie still hasn't crossed $100 million domestically). That was followed last weekend by Disney/Fox's "Dark Phoenix," which brought in $32.8 million for its opening weekend, a franchise low for X-Men. Now this weekend will see "International" become a black eye for the "MIB" franchise.

If you are getting flashbacks to the summers of 2016 at 2017 , when the business did horribly because of stale sequels, it's not that bad yet. Disney, as usual, will be coming to the rescue with "Toy Story 4" and "The Lion King." And wedged between those is Sony's "Spider-Man: Far From Home."

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