"Blade Runner 2049" is a huge hit, as the belated sequel to 1982's "Blade Runner" scores an impressive box office revenue in the first week of its release.

On Friday, Oct. 6, "Blade Runner 2049" is predicted to earn approximately $45-50 million this weekend from its domestic debut in 4,058 American theaters. The sequel is now projected to follow in the footsteps of another recent weekend blockbuster, "Mad Max: Fury Road," which gained the same amount domestically on its first week. The Thursday night reception for the film saw more than half of the moviegoers giving "Blade Runner 2049" an "excellent" rating, while about a third of them rated it "very good." 

Still, the movie has a lot to make up for since its production cost ran at a $150 million price tag. Critics also applauded the movie, as it now has a standing of 89 percent positive on Rotten Tomatoes, with top critics praising the film for its superb cinematography and relevant issues tackled. Despite its sequel status, the film has seemingly lived up to the original and has even expanded upon some of its themes.

Collider has praised the box office success of "Blade Runner 2049," stating that it very well may become another milestone for the month of October in Hollywood, and it may even dethrone 2013's "Gravity" for the title of most successful October weekend opening.

"Blade Runner 2049," directed by Denis Villeneuve, is a direct sequel to Ridley Scott's cult classic "Blade Runner." It takes place 30 years after the events of the first movie. Officer K (Ryan Gosling) discovers a sinister discovery involving rogue Replicants, the movie's term for sentient humanoid robots. This led K to search for Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), the missing protagonist of the first movie, and ask for the latter's assistance on the matter. 

The sequel adopts the cyberpunk mantle, which was popularized and pioneered in film by its predecessor, which has been cited as the inspiration of several cyberpunk movies such as "Ghost in the Shell" and "Dark City."

"Blade Runner 2049" is now available on theaters worldwide in 2D, 3D and IMAX.