Springsteen Biopic Earns $16.1M, Misses Targets

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, directed by Scott Cooper and starring Jeremy Allen White, portrays Bruce Springsteen in 1981 as he grapples with depression, generational trauma and memories of his childhood, alternating present-day color scenes with black-and-white flashbacks. Cooper adapted material from Warren Zanes' book and says Springsteen shared new personal details during development, and he intentionally eschewed conventional narrative propulsion to create an inward-looking portrait. Critics have been mixed — the film holds about a 60% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes — while audiences gave it a B+ CinemaScore. Commercially it opened soft, debuting about $9.1 million domestically and $7 million internationally for a $16.1 million global total against a reported $55 million budget, landing at No. 4 at the box office. Some conservative commentators framed the weak turnout as a rejection of Springsteen's politics, a view that contrasts with industry analyses blaming marketing, seasonality and counterprogramming. With theaters retaining roughly half of ticket sales, the film faces a difficult path to profitability and will depend heavily on positive word of mouth to sustain box office momentum.