The weekend box office race may end up being quite close once matinees come into play, but NIGHT SCHOOL (Perfect World/Universal) took Friday, with preliminary numbers at Deadline putting it at $9.3M for the day (including $1.4M from Thursday night). That’s below the $13M Friday for Kevin Hart’s Central Intelligence, and $12.9M for Get Hard (although better than the $7M for The Wedding Ringer), and also below the $11.7M for Tiffany Haddish’s Girls Trip. Barring a Saturday surge, it should have a $25M weekend, an OK result on a moderate production budget, but unlikely to lead to sequel talk, especially because its overseas prospects are uncertain. (Of those previous films, only Central Intelligence earned more than $25M internationally, and of course that co-starred Dwayne Johnson.)
SMALLFOOT (Warners Animation) had a quiet start with $6.4M on Friday, below last week’s $7.8M opening for The House With A Clock In Its Walls, and slightly better than the $5.8M for last September’s LEGO Ninjago Movie. It’s headed for a $23M weekend, and with roughly $150M in production/marketing costs, it will need to demonstrate international appeal for any sizable success.
THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS (Reliance/Universal) was meanwhile down 60% from last Friday once forced to share the marketplace with Smallfoot, with a $3.1M day that should give it $12M for the weekend, on its way to an OK $70M US total.
A SIMPLE FAVOR (Lionsgate) is showing genuine word of mouth appeal, down just 35% on its 3rd Friday to $2.1M, as it heads toward a $6.5M weekend and $55M US total.
THE NUN (New Line/Warners) continues to hold well for its genre, down 46% on its 4th Friday to $1.6M. It should have a $5.5M weekend, and is still on track for $120M in the US.
HELL FEST (CBS/Lionsgate) had a slow $2M opening day, and may stretch to reach $5M for the weekend, not much even with limited production and marketing costs.
In its 7th weekend, CRAZY RICH ASIANS (SK Global/Warners) is barely slowing down, off by 35% Friday-to-Friday to $1.2M, for a $4M weekend and a US total that may crack $175M.
THE PREDATOR (TSG/20th) fell heavily again on its 3rd Friday, down 60% to $1M, for a $3.5M weekend and a US total that may get to $55M on costs that were too high.
WHITE BOY RICK (Studio 8/Columbia/Sony) dropped 52% on its 3rd Friday to $700K as it heads toward a $2M weekend and a dim $25M US total.
Last week’s flops showed no signs of life. FAHRENHEIT 11/9 (Briarcliff) may have a $1M weekend on its way to a $7M US total. LIFE ITSELF (Amazon) is also headed for a $1M weekend and a $6M US total. ASSASSINTION NATION (Neon) probably won’t see $3M in its entire US run.
The documentary FREE SOLO (NatGeo) is headed for a strong $65K weekend per-theatre average at 4. THE OLD MAN AND THE GUN (Fox Searchlight) is slower with a potential $28K weekend average at 5.
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