LOL check out this guys Box Office estimate!

Yeah I feel bad loling now as think I remember saying it'd do 400m ww somewhere (can't remember theres so many places to post now IMDB shut down) and like everyone was certain it'd do about 40-50m opening weekend. But the way the guy went into so much depth and was so certain it would be as big as Inception etc against what we all know now it had me loling

Easy to see why estimates were high though.. BR having built up to legendary status (thanks to the 90s), 80s nostalgia in full flow, a hot off TFA Ford returning (even his appearance in the trailers was somewhat similar to 'we're home'), Gosling coming off the popular La La Land, Villeneuve coming off the critically acclaimed (and successful) Arrival, other similarly thought provoking (and in some cases lengthy) SF epics doing big at the box office the past decade (Avatar, Inception, Prometheus, Interstellar, Martian etc) plus R rated Prometheus did 400m and that was Scotts return to Alien after 30+ years (ok he wasn't directing BR2 but it was still heavily involved and like Alien BR is his 'thing') Also Mad Max Fury Road having done very well and that was a similar R rated SF dystopian 80s cult revival after 30+ years

But in hindsight its easy to counter argue each of those points - BR being legendary (ok but BR mania was mainly in the 90s and is primarily for BR fans and movie geeks - not much of the casual MCU/SW/F&F audience will even know or care about BR - so in that respect it sort of mirrors the original BR), The Ford Awakens? (ok Ford back in SW or Indy is a big deal but BR is a cult movie not as mainstream- again its similar to what happened to the original), Gosling? (no ones that bothered about young film stars of today like they were back in the 80s 90s and before then), Arrival only made 200m and Villeneuve isnt anywhere near known as Nolan, other SF movies like those mentioned obviously had more going for them for the general/casual audience (Avatar - Cameron/3D, Inception & Interstellar- Nolan/impressive ensemble casts, Martian - Damon castaway on Mars. all of those PG13 too. and the R rated ones Prometheus - Scotts return to SF/Alien/3D still a thing (but once the initial thrill of that was gone - see Covenants box office) & Fury Road - a non stop action extravaganza with amazing imagery)

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/life-style/entertainment/2017/12/26/Ridley-Scott-reveals-why-he-thinks-Blade-Runner-2049-flopped-at-the-box-office.html

http://www.vulture.com/2017/12/ridley-scott-all-the-money-in-the-world-reshoots.html