What did you see this weekend? And who wins next weekend?
Monday, July 16, 2018 at 8:00AM by Nathaniel R
| Weekend Box Office Estimates (July 13th-15th) |
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| W I D E 800+ screens |
L I M I T E D excluding prev. wide |
 Hotel Transylvania 3 |
 Three Identical Strangers |
| 1.🔺 HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3 $44.1 *NEW* |
1. 🔺 THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS $1.1 on 170 screens (cum. $2.5) REVIEW |
| 2. ANT-MAN AND THE WASP $28.8 (cum. $132.8) | 2. 🔺 LEAVE NO TRACE $1.1 on 311 screens (cum. $2.1) TRAILER DISCUSSION |
| 3.🔺 SKYSCRAPER $25 *NEW* |
3. WHITNEY $535k on 408 screens (cum. $2.3) |
| 4. INCREDIBLES 2 $16.2 (cum. $535.8) |
4. SANJU $500k on 223 screens (cum. $7.1) |
| 5. JURASSIC WORLD FALLEN KINGDOM $15.5 (cum. $363.2) REVIEW |
5. 🔺 EIGHTH GRADE $252 k on 4 screens *NEW * |
Hotel Transylvania 3 had a strong opening weekend but Skyscraper, the other big new release not so much. I do personally wonder if Dwayne Johnson is a bit oversaturated in the market. This is his third action film to open in theaters within a seven months stretch beginning with Jumanji (a massive hit) on Dec 20th than Rampage on April 13th (which didn't quite hit $100 million domestically) and now Skyscraper on July 13th which opened weaker than Rampage. Maybe three movies of a similar genre from any star in a six month period is a bad idea...
 Sorry to Bother You |
 Dont Worry He Wont Get Far On Foot |
| 6. THE FIRST PURGE $9.1 (cum. $49.5) | 6. 🔺 SOORMA $168k on 50 screens *NEW* |
| 7. 🔺 SORRY TO BOTHER YOU $4.2 (cum. $5.3) REVIEW | 7. HEARTS BEAT LOUD $131k on 131 screens (cum. $2.1) SOUNDTRACKING |
| 8. SICARIO 2 $3.8 (cum. $43.2) REVIEW |
8. YELLOW SUBMARINE (RERELEASE) $84k on 79 screens (cum. $460k) |
| 9. UNCLE DREW $3.2 (cum. $36.6) | 9. 🔺 DON'T WORRY HE WON'T GET FAR ON FOOT $83k on 4 screens *NEW* |
| 10. OCEANS 8 $2.9 (cum. $132.2) CATE'S PROMO SUITS | HATHAWAY MVP | 10. AMERICAN ANIMALS $78k on 78 screens (cum. $2.7) |
| 🔺 = new or expanding its theater count numbers (in millions unless otherwise noted) from box office mojo |
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Ant-Man and the Wasp had a huge drop in its second weekend which keeps this series the runt of Marvel's litter even though they're fun films. In other wide release news Sorry to Bother You had a strong second week adding quite a lot of theaters from its first week in very limited release.
Meanwhile at the arthouses, Three Identical Strangers is shaping up to be the third really big documentary hit of the year (after the docs on RBG and Mr Rogers). Its gross is similar to Whitney's gross but that biodoc dropped a lot in its second weekend suggesting it was very frontloaded in terms of audience interest. But the star platform release this weekend was the very well reviewed Eighth Grade which had sold out houses in NYC and LA and will expand to more cities next weekend and is probably looking at a healthy word-of-mouth driven run.
Next weekend should be interesting since Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again goes head-to-head with Denzel Washington in The Equalizer 2.
The first films in their series opened at $27 and $34 million respectively... so: competitive at first glance. That said Mamma Mia still wins that head-to-head easily despite the smaller opening as it ended its long-legged domestic run which a higher domestic gross AND a behemoth gross overseas. The global totals of their predecessors were Mamma Mia ($609 million) and The Equalizer ($192 million). So who wins this opening weekend: Mamma Mia is a a more famous property but Denzel is super-reliable on opening weekend and audiences probably get (given the trailer) that the second Mamma Mia is kind of Meryl-free, don't they? How well they each open might depend on whether audiences want sunny escape from how awful the world is right now or a place to channel their anger since the commercials make Equalizer 2 look like a purposefully vicarious chance to watch evil people sadistically massacred by a "good guy".
What did you see this weekend?
Reader Comments (24)
I saw Sorry To Both You which I enjoyed even when it got weird and Alex Strangelove on Netflix.
Channing Tatum had The Vow, 22 Jump Street and Magic Mike in February, March and June. All 3 made over 100 million. If the movies are good (to each intended audience) people will go see them. The problem here is Rampage being a letdown and this one looking stupid in posters and trailers. People knew it would be a guilty pleasure at best and if reviews are gonna come out like they did, then it’s official: I’ll see something else. Also, it’s the Rock saving people yet again. It’s not even a different role or a stretch for him.
I saw hotel Transylvania: summer vacation. Thought it was good for children and funny for the adults. Dracula and his monster family go on a summer cruise to a volcano to the city of Atlantis. There’s a dj who does distraction of happy songs to stop the evil uncle morwen this is a good one.
I think Mamma mia! would have been a hit even without Meryl, so I'm not worried for the Sequel. All I wanted is Meryl singing "The day before you came"- and she does!!!!!
For Trump supporters, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again.
For Trump haters, Equalizer 2.
Or the opposite.
I saw Eighth Grade and thought it was pretty wonderful.
I think that Mamma Mia is going to crush the Equalizer. It's not gonna have a huge opening, but I suspect it will be bigger than expected.
Saw ANT MAN & THE WASP and it's so much fun! Not sure why it is the runt of the litter. Perhaps audiences want more of a direct tie-in or crossover with other films. But one of the things I like about it is how stand-alone it is relatively speaking. And it's just SO breezy as a film and pretty damn funny in its own right.
I also saw SORRY TO BOTHER YOU. Liked it, but man did it get even weirder than I expected.
I finally saw "Julia", and while the first half was slow, it was setting up the 2nd half, which was very tense. I'm not sure how Jason Robards won that second Oscar for a stretched out cameo, but Vanessa totally earned hers.
I also watched the very cute and Actresssexual "You Again" with Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Kristin Cheonwith and Betty White, plus cute Cubs James Wolk and Kyle Bornheiimer, plus plus Spy Daddy Victor Garber. Very "rainy day" movie, and could have used a much, much, much sharper script, but it was still cute and fun, and everyone seems to be having a good time.
i saw THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS which was a quite interesting concept and emotionally compelling but HOO BOY was it problematic. i hope it gets into the discussion (not oscar, but just general film talk) because it brings up some very important topics. the film's discussion of mental health in ham-handed, sentimental, and was (frankly) offensive to me. that said, its very unique and certainly is worth discussing.
Forever1267 - I've never been sure how Jason Robards won his FIRST Oscar, let alone the second in such quick succession!!!!
I watched Rebecca (1940) for the first time and adored it. I sort of expected to love Fontaine and Anderson, but was taken aback by how hard I fell for Olivier!!!!
Shout-outs to Florence Bates, Gladys Cooper and George Sanders for superlative actress-ing (and acting) at the edges...
Next weekend should be interesting since Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again goes head-to-head with Denzel Washington in The Equalizer 2.
This is an interesting, and a little sad, coincidence. Meryl Streep and Denzel Washington were two of the last A-list actors who had never revisited a role before in their careers, and now their first sequels open wide the same weekend.
To my knowledge, the last A-list actor who has never revisited a role in a sequel is Leonardo DiCaprio. (I phrase it that way because one of his earliest roles is in a sequel, Critters 3, though he did not appear in any prior or future installments.)
Who's next? Maybe others can speculate.
The hubby and I saw RBG, which is engaging but feels rather paint-by-numbers and doesn't illuminate her life in such a way that made me think I couldn't have gotten the same information from reading her Wikipedia entry. If nothing else, however, it made me appreciate having her on the bench and fearful of what inevitably will happen in the near future if she no longer can serve.
Does Tilda Swinton count as A-List in the real world!?
Her credit in name only for the Lion, Witch, Wardrobe sequel was just re-used footage from the first one, wasn't it?
Otherwise, I'm stumped...
Eighth Grade is as profound about the human condition as any 19th-century Russian novel - it just happens to be from the perspective of a 14 year old girl who runs a vlog.
Also it's freaking hilarious. And deeply traumatisingly uncomfortable.
I saw "Eighth Grade" which was phenomenal and an impressive, perceptive debut from Bo Burnham. Seeing it and then thinking back at all the so-called teen movies out there is to see how crappy portrayals of teens in films tend to be. Elsie Fisher is great in it, but I'm hoping Josh Hamilton gets some supporting actor heat for his warm, empathetic performance as a single dad. He gets this year's Stuhlbarg Award for best performance as a father in a movie.
I saw Blockers because I heard good things about it and was pleasantly entertained. They handled the three teens' storylines, especially the lesbian's, really well. The adults were also kinda fun although the more I see Leslie Mann the more I don't totally get her success? She's always fine but never especially funny but also not called on to do any dramatic heavy lifting, either. She's always just...there.
Also saw Sorry to Bother You which I LOVED. It's a colorful, funny, creative, pointed, political blast of fun that just gets more and more insane. I can't remember seeing anything else like it and really hope people remember it for Original Screenplay. I can't wait to see what Boots Riley does next.
And topped off those two comedies with...The Tale. Loved it. The way it handles memory - how faulty ours are, how when we remember something we remember it from our perspective (looking right at the person we're talking to/looking at, not seeing ourselves over our shoulder) - was just so well done. Dern was of course fantastic and Debicki just seems like she's from another planet where they make perfect human beings.
I find it strange years ago with Faster,Tooth Fairy,Welcome to the Jungle not the Jumanji one etc The Rock could hardly get arrested at the BO until Skyskraper he seemed seemed unstoppable but saturation leads to audience fatigue,it happened to Fassbender recently and Julia Roberts in about 1992.
Bring me some escapism - I'm off to see Mamma Mia 2 as soon as it comes. And I live in Vancouver (which is a pretty place with beaches).
The first one was so bad it was good. It was the supporting cast (Christine Baranski, Julie Walters) who made it so much fun. A girls night out is what I need, and I suspect I'm not the only one.
Aside from the last 2 World Cup games, Thief by Michael Mann and Dont Look Back by D.A. Pennebaker.
I was going to see "Ant Man and The Wasp" but was sold a ticket to "Sorry To Bother You" by mistake- the movie is a mess but it's an interesting thought provoking mess- the first hour is the best but the film jumps the shark when it introduces that bizarre sci-fi twist. It still worth a look
Nat, I caught the first season of Fauda the Israeli TV series...the lead actor LOOKS A LOT LIKE YOU! No kidding.
I watched 'This Property is Condemned' with Natalie Wood and Robert Redford.
Though it's faux Tennessee Williams and falls apart at the end, it's worth watching for the great cast, and Natalie gives one of her best adult performances as Alva Starr--with two R's!
I wrote a blog essay on it, in honor of what would have been Natalie's 80th birthday July 20.
Here's the link:
http://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2018/07/this-property-is-condemned-1966.html
The real BD, those three Channing Tatum movies were all very different though. Romantic drama, strippers and stoner adjacent comedy. The Rock's film's all look basically the same. He also had BAYWATCH that flopped last year, too. I'm tempted to see it for Neve Campbell, but probably just on home entertainment.
I really hope the MAMMA MIA sequel is a hit. I enjoyed it more than the first, but musicals making it big is always good news. Took ten years to get a sequel despite being so huge and opening the same weekend as The Dark Knight, which has already had its franchise rebooted and ended in the time since.
OMG.. Ant man n Hotel TRANSYLVANIA are so good. I can't believe that Marvel movies releases all great masterpieces this year. The 3rd part of hotel transylvania keeps its style. It's really humorous and adorable.