Universal’sStraight Outta Comptonis on a roll at thebox office, taking the top spot in its first two weeks in theaters. This weekend marks the end of the summer movie season, with just two new movies opening in wide release, The Weinstein Company’sNo Escapeand Warner Bros.' dramaWe Are Your Friends, neither of which should be able to unseatStraight Outta Compton, which is well on its way to taking the top spot for its third week in a row.Straight Outta Comptonsurely won’t put up massive numbers this weekend, but they won’t need much.
Straight Outta Comptonhas already earned $113.8 million domestically, from a $28 million budget, expanding last weekend from 2,757 theaters to 3,025 theaters. While it isn’t known yet if Universal plans on expanding the biopic’s theater count even more, its current theater count, and the lack of any sort of buzz from its competitors, will most likely lead to another win forStraight Outta Compton, in the $13-$15 million range this weekend. NeitherNo EscapenorWe Are Your Friendshave been getting great reviews leading up to this weekend’s release, withNo Escapecurrently sitting at a 44% rating onRotten TomatoesandWe Are Your Friendsamassing just 29% on the movie review website.
No Escape(3,007 theaters) will most likely take the second spot at the box office this weekend with somewhere between $8 million and $10 million, whileWe Are Your Friends(approximately 2,250 theaters) follows in third place, most likely in the $6 million or $7 million range, just aboveMission: Impossible Rogue Nation. It’s possible thatMission: Impossible Rogue Nationcould sneak ahead ofWe Are Your Friends, but we won’t know for sure until Sunday. Barring some sort of miracle though, don’t expect either of the new releases to break the bank and giveStraight Outta Comptona run for their money.
Some analysts have the new releases flip-flopped, withWe Are Your Friendstracking in the $10 million range, andNo Escapetracking at $5 million. However, we think a new action-thriller likeNo Escapehas a better chance at (moderate) success as the summer season ends and the awards season starts to heat up. Besides, we’re betting that more people will see a movie whereOwen Wilsonthrows his cinematic kid off a roof than a bunch of young kids trying to make it in L.A., even if one of those kids is the belovedZac Efron.
While it isn’t getting a “wide” release, this weekend also brings the debut of the faith-based dramaWar Room, which will debut in approximately 1,100 theaters, and should have no trouble snagging the fifth spot in the $5-$6 million range. If it performs well, don’t be surprised if it takes the fourth place spot, in what could be a close box office race withMission: Impossible Rogue Nation. Faith-based films have been known to over-perform at the box office as of late, with the most recent example being Freestyle Releasing’s 2014 drama God’s Not Dead. The film opened in just 780 theaters last March, but it managed to take fourth place in its opening weekend with an impressive $9.2 million. WhileWar Roomwon’t likely make that much this weekend, it should easily crack the top 5.
The top 10 will be rounded out by holdoversSinister 2,Hitman: Agent 47,The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,American UltraandThe Gift. While it won’t likely crack the top 10 this weekend, Universal’sMinionsmay cross the $1 billion worldwide milestone within the next few days. Theanimated moviehas currently taken in $990.6 million globally ($320.5 million domestic, $670.1 million internationally). When this blockbuster does surpass $1 billion, it will make Universal Pictures the first studio in cinematic history to have three movies pass $1 billion in a single year, followingJurassic World($1.62 billion) andFurious 7($1.51 billion).
There are also a slew of movies opening in limited release this weekend, such as Roadside Attractions’Z for Zachariah, Epic Pictures’Turbo Kid, Oscilloscope Pictures' The Second Mother and IFC’s Queen of Earth. All of these indie films will be available on VOD formats as well, so they very well may end up doing solid business without a massive theatrical presence. We don’t have exact theater counts for these movies yet, so stay tuned to see how they fare after opening in limited release this weekend.
Looking ahead to next weekend,Straight Outta Comptonand the rest of the field will go up against EuropaCorp’sThe Transporter Refueledand Broad Green Pictures’A Walk in the Woodsin wide release over the Labor Day weekend holiday. Debuting in limited release are RADiUS-TWC’s dramatic comedyBefore We Go, the directorial debut ofChris Evans, who stars withAlice Eve, and the vampire comedyBloodsucking Bastardsfrom the improv troupeDr. God, which starsFran KranzandPedro Pascal. We’ll be back on Sunday with the box office estimates, and check back next week for our full predictions for the Labor Day weekend. Until then, check out this week’s predictions below.
