What did you see this weekend?
Monday, September 10, 2018 at 12:00PM by Nathaniel R
| Weekend Box Office Estimates (September 7-9) 🔺 = New or Expanded Theater Count |
|
| W I D E 800+ screens |
PLATFORM / LIMITED excluding prev. wide |
 The Nun |
 The Wife |
| 1. 🔺THE NUN $53.5*NEW* Nun movies |
1. YA VEREMOS $770K on 369 screens (cum. $3.3) Review |
| 2. CRAZY RICH ASIANS $13.6 (cum. $136.2) Review, Yeoh, Podcast | 2. 🔺THE WIFE $712k on 153 screens (cum. $2) Review, Poster Blurb, Glenn's Oscar |
| 3. 🔺 PEPPERMINT $13.1 *NEW* |
3. 🔺JULIET, NAKED $670k on 467 screens (cum. $2.4) |
| 4. THE MEG $6 (cum. $131.5) Review |
4. THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS $155k on 132 screens (cum. $11.9) Review |
| 5.🔺SEARCHING $4.5 (cum. $14.3) Review |
5. PUZZLE $121k on 131 screens (cum. $1.8) |
What did you see this weekend? I'm in Toronto cramming movies into my eyeballs (just screened: First Man and If Beale Street Could Talk). Reviews soon... thankfully Chris at least is keeping up with the reviews immediately after his screenings. I'm slower - apologies!
In box office news this week: The Nun had the biggest opening weekend of its Conjuring franchise; Fallout became the #1 in the Mission: Impossible franchise globally; BlacKkKlansman is now Spike Lee's third biggest narrative feature (behind Inside Man and Malcolm X... though if you dont adjust for inflation its also behind Jungle Fever and Do the Right Thing); Crazy Rich Asians finally showed a bit of a slowdown after a month in release but hasn't started to lose theaters yet and is already well on its way to being very profitable ( $160+ million globally thus far on a $30 million budget); And The Wife is expanding well with a still healthy per screen average and now crossing $2 million which bodes well for Close's Oscar campaign if it's a slow-and-steady-wins-the-race kind of year. We'll see.
Spike Lee, The Nun, box office, moviegoing
Reader Comments (19)
"Searching" was fine but I was underwhelmed. The gimmick mostly works, although it presumes a world where everyone uses FaceTime way too much. But in the end I don't know that it's a story that *had* to be told in this way, and the brief moments where the movie attempts to add commentary about technology didn't really convince me either. Really overbearing score as well - the music was way too much and seemed like it didn't trust the audience to follow along with the significance of certain moments.
I saw Fallout and appreciated it as an action film, even if the Tom Cruise cliché of running fast across the top of a building for a minute or more does not work for me.
On streaming, I am enjoying Jack Ryan (not perfect, but engrossing and I think I could watch John Krasinski in anything), Marcella (although it is right on the edge of murder porn so I may abandon ship), and Succession (great cast, great writing, very entertaining).
Saw THE WIFE - Close's finest turn since REVERSAL OF FORTUNE (and Pryce and Max Irons are brilliant too) but I do wonder if the film is too much of a slow burn for the more impatient of Oscar voters.
Blackkklansman-incendiary and vital but a tad too long.
The Wife: standard drama but w/ a great performance by Glenn Close. I hope she wins best actress but the movie may be seen as a bit dull?
Searching: Agree with Dave. I found the construction (the entire movie takes place on a video monitor) a bit artificial and annoying. Cast gets A for effort.
Those fresh from the festival reviews were everything this weekend.Thanks Chris
Dying to read your review of If Beale Street Could Talk. Also, have you seen A Star Is Born yet? It seems to be getting an even more enthusiastic reception, if that's possible, in Toronto than it did in Venice. Gaga may snag a Best Actress nomination after all!
So glad The Wife is performing well at the box office.
Did someone of you already saw at Toronto Gloria Bell with Julianne Moore? First reviews two days ago were great.
Hereditary, which is much more family drama/psychological thriller/supernatural suspense than it is horror, so its marketing as such was a lie. However, I'd recommend it even though I'm still processing my less-than-favorable thoughts about it -- mainly that the film is less intelligent and more derivative than it thinks it is. Moreover, the husband-father character/Gabriel Byrne was completely disposable as far as I'm concerned.
The Julianne Moore film isn't out till spring next year.
@Troy H
That's why he went up in flames.
I saw Disobedience and thought Rachel McAdams was outstanding (NIvola and Weisz were great, too). I hope it's remembered at the end of the year, and Bleeker Street gives it the Oscar campaign it deserves.
Also watching Jack Ryan - the Muslim characters are waaaaay more compelling than the Westerners. The biggest flaw - Krasinski and Cornish have plenty of one-liners but zero chemistry.
I doubt dull and slow will negate a Best Actress for Glenn but who knows. Still waiting to see if any of the other contenders catch fire.
First-timers: Star Trek Beyond, Heaven Can Wait, and Ginger and Fred with a re-watch of For Your Eyes Only.
Saw THE WIFE and found Close’s performance a slow burn tour-de-force. The woman communicate more with her eyes than half the actresses working today can with pages of dialogue. This equals her work in DANGEROUS LIAISONS.
Joel: seeing it tonight. Can't wait! Also, Nathaniel : we need your take on A Star is Born 😚😚😚
Watched THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST (dreary film with some solid work by Moretz and Gallagher), DESTINATION WEDDING (looooved this, especially with Keanu Reeves & Winona Ryder throwing shade the whole time), and WE THE ANIMALS (very moving, nice translation of the novel, hope it gets a chance to expand).
As mentioned previously, saw The Wife. Liked it a lot. Close is of course fantastic but it is a very subtle performance. She is no slam dunk winner. Reminiscent of 45 Years but that is a far better film.