by Nathaniel R
| Weekend Box Office (Sept 22nd-24th) |
|
| W I D E 800+ screens |
L I M I T E D excluding prev. wide |
 |
 |
| 1.🔺 KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE $39 new | 1.🔺 STRONGER $1.7 on 574 screens new REVIEW |
| 2. IT $30 (cum. $266.3) REVIEW | 5 TAKEAWAYS | 2.🔺 BRAD'S STATUS $1 on 453 screens (cum. $1.1) REVIEW |
| 3.🔺 LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE $21.2 new | 3.🔺 BATTLE OF THE SEXES $525k on 4 screens new |
| 4. AMERICAN ASSASSIN $6.2 (cum. $26.1) | 4. 🔺 VICTORIA AND ABDUL $152k on 4 screens new |
Kingsman: The Golden Circle got off to a fast start with its all star cast and Looney Tunes broad violence (only I guess people die unlike Wile E. Coyote) while It continues to power on determined to be the biggest horror hit of all time right now trailing only The Sixth Sense (if you don't adjust for inflation) and that and The Exorcist (if you adjust for inflation).
Meanwhile since Fall has officially begun, so too has the Oscar-hopeful release cycle (FINALLY). All four of them that opened this weekend are off to great starts...
 |
 |
| 5. HOME AGAIN $3.3 (cum. $22.3) | 5. COLUMBUS $80k on 57 screens (cum. $751k) |
| 6. mother! $3.2 (cum. $13.4) REVIEW | DIVISIVE | MICHELLE | 6.🔺 DOLORES $70k on 27 screens (cum. $257k) |
| 7. 🔺 FRIEND REQUEST $2.4 new | 7. DO IT LIKE AN HOMBRE $52K on 50 screens (cum. $2.4k) |
| 8. HITMAN'S BODYGUARD $1.8 (cum. $73.5) | 8.🔺 LOVING VINCENT $24k on 1 screen new |
| 9. WIND RIVER $1.2 (cum. $31.6) REVIEW | 9. CALIFORNIA TYPEWRITER $23k (cum. $162k) on 16 screens |
| 10. SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING $1.1 (cum. $331.8) REVIEW | PODCAST | 10. MAUDIE $23k (cum. $6.1) on 44 screens REVIEW |
🔺 = new or significant expansion numbers (in millions unless otherwise noted) from box office mojo |
|
Battle of the Sexes, Victoria and Abdul, and even Loving Vincent - that painted animated feature -- all found eager audiences waiting for them with promising per screen averages in limited release. Stronger, Jake Gyllenhaal's Oscar bid, went nearly wide for week one and made the overall top ten despite being on one thousand (at least) less screens than the wide releases that made it. In short, adults have been starved for options at the movies for the past month or four.
Battle of the Sexes, which I'm so pleased to report is really good (!), goes wide next weekend. We hope the word of mouth is there for it because if Oscar is going to honor a sports movie this year let it be this one rather than I Tonya (which has scheduled it's one-week qualifying Oscar release in NY & LA for December 8th) since this one is actually well-made across the board and beautifully acted with Emma Stone making a strong case for herself in the gorgeously overstuffed Best Actress race.
The sleeper hit status of Wind River -its gross has now tripled its budget - makes you wonder if we aren't underestimating the awards prospects of that one. Clearly adult audiences like it and the acting is indeed fine. Especially Gil Birmingham (hot off of Hell or High Water) as a grieving father.
What did you see this weekend? I took in some NYFF screenings (more reviews to come) and hit Battle of the Sexes and Victoria & Abdul both of which we'll say more about soon.