The last weekend in August before the Labor Day holiday also signifies the final weekend of thesummer movie seasonat the box office. This year, the summer movie season is definitely going out like a lamb, with last weekend’s winnerThe Hitman’s Bodyguardbeating out three new movies and a heavily-promoted fight screening in select theaters across the country, to take the top spot with just $10 million. In fact, the combined gross of the top 12 movies was the lowest in 16 years, since September 2001.
Box Office Mojoreports that the combined gross for the top 12 movies added up to $49 million, the first time that the top 12 failed to earn more than $50 million in over 20 years, and the worst since the September 21-23 weekend in 2001, just a few weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when the top 12 earned just $43.5 million, topped byHardballstarring Keanu Reeves, with $8 million. It’s possible that, when the actual figures come in on Monday, this could also be the first weekend in two years that the number 1 movie earned less than $10 million, since the faith-based dramaWar Roomearned $9.4 million over the Labor Day holiday weekend. While there were three new movies going up againstThe Hitman’s Bodyguard, starringRyan Reynoldsand Samuel L. Jackson, but the action-comedy still managed to top these underperforming movies, one of which didn’t even come close to cracking the top 10.
The Hitman’s Bodyguardremained in 3,377 theaters, dropping 53% from last weekend’s opening weekend win of $21.3 million, and while a $10 million second weekend isn’t normally enough to come away with a win, this action-comedy was aided by three under-marketed and under-whelming movies opening in the last weekend of summer.The Hitman’s Bodyguardhas now taken in $39.6 million domestically from a $30 million budget, although no international box office data has been released tat this time.Annabelle: Creationalso stayed put in the second place with $7.3 million, bringing its domestic total to $77.8 million with $215 million worldwide, from just a $15 million budget. This spin-off has helpedThe Conjuring universeearn a whopping $1 billion worldwide.
Debuting in third place this weekend is the animated movieLeap!, which earned a paltry $5 million this weekend. The movie suffered from poor reviews, with just 37% on Rotten Tomatoes, earning just $1,948 per-screen average from 2,575 theaters. One of the biggest surprises of the weekend though was the expandingWind River, which jumped from 10th place last weekend to fourth place this weekend with an estimated $4.4 million. The critically-acclaimed drama, starring Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen, which could also be an early Oscar contender, expanded from 694 theaters to 2,095 theaters, an expansion of 1,401 theaters, although its per-screen average of $2,105 wasn’t terribly impressive. Still, this indie thriller has earned $9.8 million in its four weeks in release, largely through positive word-of-mouth, and while there is no foreign box office data quite yet,Wind Rivercould very well earn back its $11 million budget in the next few days. The top 5 is rounded out byLogan Luckywith $4.3 million in its second weekend, bringing its domestic total to $15 million from a $29 million budget.
The top 10 is rounded out byDunkirk($3.9 million),Spider-Man: Homecoming$2.7 million), theMayweather Vs. McGregorfight ($2.59 million),Birth of the Dragon($2.50 million) andThe Emoji Movie($2.3 million). It certainly isn’t normal that a boxing match cracks the top 10 at the box office, but the heavily promoted fight between boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and UFC champion Conor McGregor was shown in 532 theaters across the country through Fathom Events, with its solid $4,884 per-screen average higher than any other movie in the top 10, despite having the lowest theater count. The other new movie in “wide” release was Sony’sAll Saints, which debuted in 16th place with $1.5 million, earning a horrid $1,832 per-screen average from 846 theaters.
Also opening in limited release this weekend was Neon’s dramaBeach Rats, which earned $45,008 from just three theaters for a $15,003 per-screen average, FIP’s action movieA Gentleman, which earned $195,000 from 135 theaters for a $1,444 per-screen average, Oscilloscope Pictures' dramaPolina, which took in $13,250 from two theaters for a $6,625 per-screen average, Artsploitation’s horror filmRed Christmas, which earned $1,000 from one theater and the 3D re-release of the 1991 action classicTerminator 2: Judgment Day, which earned $582,300 from 386 theaters for a $1,509 per-screen average. No box office data was given for Vertical Entertainment’s horror-thrillerGhost HouseWell Go USA’s foreign moviesLegend of the Naga PearlsandThe Villainess, Entertainment Studios' documentaryServed Like a Girl.
Looking ahead to next weekend, the Labor Day weekend holiday will bring just one wide release, The Weinstein Company’sTulip Fever. Also opening in limited release will be Freestyle Releasing’sA Boy Called Po, Sony’sClose Encounters Of The Third Kind2017 Re-Release, PBS' documentaryDolores, Pantelion’s foreign filmHazlo Como Hombre (Do It Like An Hombre), Shout! Factory’s horror-thrillerJackals, Vertical Entertainment’s comedyThe Layover, Screen Media’s horror movieTemple, Lionsgate Premiere’s action-thrillerUnlocked, Hammond’s thrillerValley of Bonesand the dramaViceroy’s House. Take a look at the top 10 estimates for the weekend of August 25, and check back on Tuesday for our next wave of predictions.
