OPENINGS: It’s very possible that the news is going to get even worse for THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS (H Brothers/Black Bear/STX), which is grimly insisting on a studio estimate of the best Sunday hold in the weekend’s Top 10 to claim a $10M opening–even after dropping 15% on Saturay. That number may easily slip to 7 figures in finals tomorrow, but even if it manages to hold, it’s the worst opening of Melissa McCarthy’s starring career, and not by an inch: her previous worst was $17.9M for Life of the Party. Happytime hasn’t opened overseas yet, but it would take a miracle to avoid red ink.
The weekend’s other openings were even uglier. AXL (Global Road) had a pathetic $2.9M launch, amid reports that its studio is headed into bankruptcy. It did have a solid 47% Saturday bump from the family matinee audience, but at these numbers, that didn’t mean much.
PAPILLON (Bleecker Street) seemed to open out of contractual obligation, with a 544-theatre release that earned $1.2M.
HOLDOVERS: CRAZY RICH ASIANS (SK Global/Warners) is the feel-good story of the late summer box office, with a phenomenal Weekend 2 hold (helped a bit by the fact that last Friday was its 3rd day of release), that was down a microscopic 6% to $25M. A US total of $125M+ seems unstoppable, and the sequel has already been announced. Overseas, the film is taking its time and is in 18 markets, where it had a $6M weekend for $7.1M to date.
THE MEG (Gravity/Warners) benefited from the lack of new competition and dipped 38% on its 3rd weekend to $13M, on its way to $125M in the US. Its real money, of course, is abroad, where it’s at $303.3M ($143M of that from China) after a $32.7M weekend in 65 territories and Japan still to come.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT (Skydance/Alibaba/Paramount) had the best weekend-to-weekend hold in the Top 10, down 26% to $8M (the 2nd best Weekend 5 hold in the franchise, behind the original Mission by a tiny margin), as it heads to $210M. Overseas, it’s at $344.8M after a $13M weekend in 61 markets, and while that’s considerably behind the $487.7M for Rogue Nation, China should change all that when it opens this week.
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN (Disney) continues to own the family market, down 29% in Weekend 4 to $6.3M, with $90M in its sights in the US. Its overseas total to date is $35.1M, after a $5.9M weekend in 32 markets.
Not even this weekend’s weak openings could save MILE 22 (H Brothers/Hideaway/STX), which fell 56% to $6M, and may reach $40M in the US. It isn’t being helped by the rest of the world, where its total is $6.3M.
ALPHA (Studio 8/Sony/Columbia) didn’t fare any better, down 46% to $5.6M, with the hope of seeing $35M in the US. It has $7.3M overseas, after a $6.7M weekend in 17 territories.
BLACKKKLANSMAN (Focus/Universal) was much more robust, down 28% in its 3rd weekend to $5.3M, and perhaps able to get past $45M in the US. Its overseas total to date is $8.3M.
SLENDER MAN (Sony/Screen Gems) dropped a fair (for its genre) 42% in Weekend 3 to $2.8M, and it might surpass $30M by a bit in the US. It has $8M overseas.
ANT-MAN & THE WASP (Marvel/Disney) is almost done in the US, with $211.5M to date after a $1.8M weekend, but it was the weekend’s big opening in China, where it took in $68M for the weekend, the #3 opening of the year for a non-local title, and better than Black Panther‘s $65.1M start there. With an additional $3.2M from 27 other markets, its international total is now $332.6M.
LIMITED RELEASE: SEARCHING (Sony/Screen Gems) had a strong start, with a $40K per-theatre weekend average at 9. THE BOOKSHOP (Greenwich) was quieter with a $12K average at 4. PUZZLE (Sony Classics) expanded aggressively to 265 with a $1400 average. JULIET, NAKED (Roadside) widened to 43 and averaged $5800. THE WIFE (Sony Classics), now at 18, averaged $12K. THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST (FilmRise) averaged $1400 at 85. BLAZE (IFC) averaged $7300 at 7. WE THE ANIMALS (Orchard) expanded to 12 and is claiming a $4100 average, although that relies on an extremely strong Sunday estimate. MADELINE’S MADELINE (Oscilloscope) averaged $2K at 9.
NEXT WEEKEND: As it usually does, the summer movie season will go out with a Labor Day whimper. OPERATION FINALE (MGM) will open on Wednesday and attempt to pick up some of the older-thriller audience that has supported The American and The Debt on past Labor Days. On Friday, action movie KIN (Lionsgate) and a near-wide release of the thriller THE LITTLE STRANGER (Focus/Universal) arrive, along with a wide expansion of Searching.
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