I was betting that Deadline.com is lowballing, based on the hurricane-dampened “preview” night/opening day of “The Wild Robot” (right around $12 million), when their prognosticator said it’d hit $35 million on its opening weekend.

Saturday, post hurricane, should have been  huge. I was thinking $40 million+ was  within reach. Nope. It’ll take a very good Sunday to get it over $35.

As I said in my review of the sweet and poignant “Robot,” this adaptation of a Peter Brown book wasn’t easy to sell via trailers and commercials. This official trailer never comes close to getting at the essence of the film and why it’s magical. The word “robot” was supposed to sell it.

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” had no such branding problems, being the sequel to a beloved if somewhat uneven horror comedy that found its audience and never let go of it. Neither of the films was great, no matter how much affection fans have for the first true wild and wooly mind of “TIM BURTON” branded hit (it even spawned an animated TV series in the late-80s, early ’90s).

Another $16 million for “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” will push it over $250 million, domestically, and might give Burton the leverage to make any “dream” project he has in mind. He’s had so many.

“Transformers One,” which brings Paramount’s creaking franchise back to the animated toy show it always was, is falling off some 60% from its opening weekend take, good for another $9.3 million. This one will clear $50 or so by the time its run ends. Hardly a blockbuster.

Indian cinema has become a big deal in the post-pandemic box office era, one of the most reliable corners of the market for theater owners. So “Devara: Part 1,” three hours of subcontinent action starring N.T. Rama Rao Jr., is opening over $5.6 million.

Francis Ford Coppola’s last cinematic throw of the dice, “Megalopolis,” isn’t opening to long lines and ticket sales befitting a legendary/visionary film storyteller. The sci-fi parable stars Adam Driver, and good actor or not, he isn’t “box office,” nor is really anybody else in the cast. Maybe it’ll find its audience at some point, but $4 million isn’t the kind of send-off, mixed reviews be damned, Coppola deserves.

The sentimental dramedy “My Old Ass” and the combat photographer biopic “Lee” aren’t making so much as a ripple, with holdovers “Speak No Evil” ($4.3), “Deadpool & Wolverine” ($2.6) and “Never Let Go” ($2.2) and “The Substance” ($1.8) jockeying with them for placement within the lower half of the Top Ten.

Donald Trump couldn’t pay people enough to show up for “Trump Vindicated,” and Matt Walsh has made his last real money off  ” Am I Racist?” with neither of these wingnut docs making the top ten this weekend.