Forget what studio executives might try to pin the blame on for this weekend’s horrible business. It wasn’t Harvey, Floyd or Connor that caused the North America box office to hit rock bottom.
It was their lousy offerings.
A trio of turkeys – Leap!, Birth of the Dragon and All Saints– joined the droves of unappealing product at multiplexes nationwide this weekend in the hopes of squeezing a few late summer bucks out of the public. Suffice to say, their efforts failed and failed spectacularly. The best the top ten could muster was $45 million, a number that was down 41% from last weekend’s awful numbers and a dire 50% from last year at this time. With no new features coming for the long Labor Day weekend, it’s only going to get worse before it gets better.
Something had to take first place, and that would be last week’s champ, Lionsgate’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard. With an estimated $10.05 million from 3,337 theaters, – a decrease of 53%, – the Ryan Reynolds/Samuel L. Jackson action comedy has collared an okay $40 million so far. With a moderate boost from the upcoming long holiday weekend, Hitman’s final domestic haul could come in around $60 million.
In second place was the horror hit Annabelle: Creation with an estimated $7.35 million from 3,565 theaters. Of 53%, ol’ Annie has scared up a solid $78 million and could finish with $95 million. Overseas, Annabelle: Creation has brought in a great $137 million so far.
Three new wide releases were dumped on the market this weekend and, not surprisingly, all three bombed. The most “successful” of the group was The Weinstein Company’s animated offering Leap!, which showed off two left feet with a $5 million debut on 2,575 screens. A 2016 French-Canadian independent feature –titled Ballerina outside the United States- that features the voices of Elle Fanning, Dale DeHaan and Kate McKinnon, Leap! received largely negative notices from the press.
Weinstein also expanded its acclaimed drama Wind River to 2,045 screens in its third weekend to results similar to last year’s indie hit Hell or High Water. The Jeremy Renner drama earned an estimated $4.4 million to bring its overall total to $9.8 million so far. Word-of-mouth among adult ticket buyers should be strong enough to keep Wind River steady through the next few weeks.
Rounding out the top five was the Steven Soderbergh comedy Logan Lucky, which fell 43% in its second round on 3,031 theaters to earn an estimated $4.3 million. After ten days, the acclaimed feature has managed $14.5 million so far. A final domestic haul near $23 million might be in the cards.
- Dunkirk (Warner) $3.95 million (40%); $172.4 million
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (Sony/Marvel) $2.72 million (-36%); $319 million
- Birth of the Dragon (BT) $2.5 million; NEW
This low-budget drama about martial arts icon Bruce Lee opened on 1,618 screens Friday to bad reviews and empty auditoriums.
- The Emoji Movie (Sony) $2.35 million (-47%); $76.4 million
- Girls Trip (Universal) $2.26 million (-42%); $108 million
The weekend’s third new wide release was Sony’s religious drama All Saints, which opened down in 15th place with a damning $1.5 million from 846 theaters.
For the long holiday weekend, the one new release of note will be the 40th Anniversary reissue of Close Encounters of the Third Kind on approximately 700 screens. If you haven’t seen the film on the big screen, do yourself a favor and check it out.
We’ll see you back here in two weeks with the opening numbers for IT, which is looking at an opening between $50-60 million. Have a safe and happy Labor Day weekend!
