Runner didn't storm the box office on its opening day. It didn't need to.

Scott Waugh's action comedy, starring Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson, brought in an estimated $2.5 million on Friday across 2,568 North American theatres, according to figures reported by Deadline and cited by Koimoi. That's enough to put the Angel Studios release on track for a top five domestic finish this weekend, with the studio projecting somewhere around $6 million for the full three days.

Modest, sure. But the numbers underneath it are what make this one worth watching.

Runner walked away with an A- on CinemaScore, a grade that puts it ahead of The Beekeeper and Nobody 2, on par with The Equalizer and Wrath of Man, and even above Christopher Nolan's Tenet. That's the kind of scorecard that studios point to when a film opens soft and needs the next three weekends to actually make money. Critics have been kinder than expected too, with the film sitting at 70% on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience score there hadn't been published as of Friday's numbers.

The plot itself is straightforward B-movie machinery, done with a straight face. Ritchson plays a former soldier paired with Wilson's more reluctant partner, the two of them racing to deliver a medical package to save a young girl's life while a cartel hunts them down. Betrayal, a ticking clock, a mismatched duo who don't quite trust each other. It's the kind of setup that lives or dies on chemistry, and if the CinemaScore is any indication, audiences who showed up on day one liked what they saw between Ritchson and Wilson.

What nobody's talking about yet is the budget. Angel Studios hasn't disclosed one, and without that number, there's no real way to say what a $6 million opening weekend actually means for the film's prospects. A $2.5 million Friday reads very differently for a $15 million production than it does for a $60 million one.

The mixed critical reception hasn't stopped Runner from finding an audience, at least on day one. Whether that audience shows up in week two is the actual test. Action comedies with this kind of cast and this kind of review split tend to either fade fast once the novelty wears off, or build slowly on word of mouth once people start telling their friends it's better than the trailers suggested.

Runner opened Friday, September 11. The full weekend numbers, and a clearer picture of where it lands against the rest of this week's domestic top five, should be out by Sunday night.