Brad Pitt's Heart of the Beast crosses $50 million worldwide in opening weekend

Brad Pitt's survival thriller Heart of the Beast has made a confident start at the box office. The film, directed by David Ayer, reportedly pulled in $50.1 million worldwide across its opening weekend and beat the industry's own projections in North America.

Reports say the film earned $20 million in North America over its first three days, taking the number three spot and edging out Primetime. The split was reportedly $7.5 million on Friday, $7.3 million on Saturday and $5.2 million on Sunday. That start is ahead of the North American openings of The Running Man at $16.5 million and Ad Astra at $19 million.

Overseas, the film reportedly collected $30.1 million over a five-day opening across 63 international markets, more than the $20.4 million debut of The Beekeeper. These figures are estimates and have not been independently verified.

The story follows Special Forces veteran James Belmont and his combat dog, Odin, who end up stranded deep in the Alaskan wilderness after a plane crash and must fight the elements to survive. The Paramount Pictures release opened on September 25 and is now playing in theatres across India. It has reportedly drawn an 88 per cent critics' score and a 94 per cent verified audience score on a leading review aggregator.

Pitt has also shared a fun story from the shoot. Odin is mainly played by a dog named Uber, and filming took place in New Zealand, where plenty of smells and distractions made it hard to keep the dog focused. Working with military K-9 specialist Steve Stoops, the team took its cue from how military dogs are cared for, making sure each day had affection, fun and a little adventure.

Pitt's own trick was simple: pockets full of boiled chicken. He would stop even in the middle of an emotional scene to hand over a treat, and the pair would slip straight back into the moment. The method worked, but the actor joked about the cost: "I really can't eat chicken since I got sick."