Zendaya starrer, 'Challengers' is a steamy tennis drama: First weekend box office numbers hit $15 million

‘Challengers’ is a once-in-a-decade kind of a movie. With its exquisite power play and moral bankruptcy, the three leads and their complicated lives which somehow intertwine at every turn. (Image via X)

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Luca Guadagnino’s romance-sports drama, ‘Challengers’, won the box office tennis match by debuting with a whopping number of $15 million from 3,477 theatres. It is marked as the second best start for an original adult rated drama since the pandemic behind Harry Styles starrer, ‘Don’t Worry Darling’. The movie has a budget of $55 million.

‘Challengers’ is also on track to become Luca Guadagnino’s highest grossing film domestically after passing Timothee Chalamet starrer, ‘Call Me By Your Name’, which grossed around $18 million.

The Zendaya starrer also did really well internally. It grossed around $9 million from 52 markets for a global score of $25 million.

‘Challengers’ was supposed to release last year in time for awards season but it got delayed due to the SAG-AFTRA strike that was ongoing.

‘Challengers’ is a very sexy tennis drama. The story revolves around three tennis players. The character that drives the movie is Tashi Duncan, a former tennis prodigy, played by Zendaya. Josh O’ Conner plays ‘Patrick Zweig’, a failed tennis player and Mike Faist plays ‘Art Donaldson’, a very rich tennis player.

The score of the movie is like drinking three shots of espresso. The adrenaline jumps through the rooooof. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross created pulse-pumping techno scores for the film that make the movie just so much more thrilling.

‘Challengers’ is a once-in-a-decade kind of a movie. With its exquisite power play and moral bankruptcy, the three leads and their complicated lives which somehow intertwine at every turn. The film shines with beautiful camera work that include glistening sweat drops falling on the lens. The film is a tantalising experience of sexual tension throughout.

Zendaya will next be seen in ‘Dune: Messiah’, release date TBD. Josh O’s Connor will be starring in ‘The History of Sound’ alongside Paul Mescal, release date TBD. You can catch Mike Faist in Danny Lyon’s film, ‘The Bikeriders’, starring ‘Elvis’ actor Austin Butler.