A Weak Weekend at the Box Office
Monday, August 29, 2022 at 11:28PM by Nathaniel R
A deflating weekend for Hollywood, proving once again that if you don't put enough new glitzy stuff in theaters (and don't promote them well) people don't show up! But for what it's worth, here's what the weekend was like...
| Weekend Box Office August 26th-28th 🔺 = new or expanding / ★ = Recommended links if we've written about it |
|
| WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS) | LIMITED / PLATFORM |
 THE INVITATION |
 ORPHAN: FIRST KILL |
| 1 🔺 THE INVITATION $6.8 *NEW* |
1 🔺 ROGUE ONE (2016) *rerelease* $1.0 *NEW* |
| 2 BULLET TRAIN $5.6 (cum. $78.2) |
2 ★ ORPHAN FIRST KILL $918k (cum. $3.3) |
| 3 BEAST $4.8 (cum. $20) |
3 LAAL SINGH CHADDHA $160k (cum. $3.3) |
| 4 ★ TOP GUN MAVERICK $4.7 (cum. $691.1) |
4 EMILY THE CRIMINAL $136k (cum. $1.7) |
| 5 DRAGON BALL SUPER HERO $4.6 (cum. $30.8) |
5 MARCEL THE SHELL... $103k (cum. $5.8) |
| 6 DC LEAGUE OF SUPER PETS $4.1 (cum. $74) |
6 🔺 ALIENOID $73k *NEW* |
 3000 YEARS OF LONGING |
 THE TERRITORY |
| 7 🔺 ★ 3000 THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING $2.9 *NEW* | 7 🔺 ★ THE TERRITORY (Doc) $43k (cum. $69k) *EXPANDING* |
|
8 MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU $2.7 (cum. $354.7) |
8 HALLELUJAH LEONARDO COHEN (Doc) $41k (cum. $852k) |
| 9 THOR: LOVE & THUNDER $2.6 (cum. $336.5) |
9 ★ ET (1982) *rerelease* $41k (cum. $2.0) |
| 10 WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING $2.3 (cum. $81.8) |
10 HANSAN RISING DRAGON (South Korea) $30k (cum. $767k) |
| 11 ★ NOPE $2.1 (cum. $117.6) |
11 ★ FIRE OF LOVE (Doc) $28k (cum. $986k) |
| 12 ★ ELVIS $1.4 (cum. $147.3) |
12 THE GOOD BOSS (Spain) $26k *NEW* |
| 13 BODIES BODIES BODIES $1 (cum. $9.7) |
13 EMERGENCY DECLARATION (South Korea) $24k (cum. $332k) |
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14 🔺★ BREAKING $985k *NEW* |
14 ★ A LOVE SONG $21k (cum. $214k) |
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15 JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION $733k (cum. $347.8) |
15 🔺 ★ THREE MINUTES A LENGTHENING (Doc) $17k (cum. $28k) *EXPANDING* |
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16 FALL $436k (cum. $5.9) 16 total movies in wide release, up from last week since 3 new films opened and Jurassic World added back in nearly 800 screens (presumably discount theaters) |
16 ★ MY OLD SCHOOL (Doc) $8k (cum. $82k)
|
NOTES
• If you don't count the two pandemic years, The Invitation's first place bow is the lowest gross for a first place finisher in 19 years (!)
• Bullet Train got off to a so-so start a month ago but it's been holding well enough and its overseas peformance is strong enough that it will be profitable in theatrical release. The power of Brad Pitt and action thrill rides in general.
• With two new films in two weeks, both underperforming, Idris Elba hasn't proven to be very bankable. He's not alone in this problem! Many very well liked stars in the modern era have trouble putting butts in seats for original films in the age of "I'm only interested in IP" brand loyalty and stay-at-home to streaming habits.
• Though Elvis had strong legs over the summer it will likely fall short of the $150 million mark it probably could have reached since it's now available on VOD and hits HBOMax this Friday. Still, it's been a success story for Baz Luhrmann, Austin Butler, Elvis fanatics, and Warner Bros. By next weekend (possibly its last hurrah) it'll become the 8th biggest grosser of 2022, behind Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and just barely ahead of Uncharted with Nope trailing behind in tenth. Will Oscar voters remember Elvis early next year? We shall see!
NEXT WEEKEND
Jaws gets a rerelease on IMAX screens, Spider-Man No Way Home get a rerelease with extra footage thrown in, and the comedy Honk For Jesus Save Your Soul opens for the typically quiet long Labor Day Weekend
What did you see this weekend? I caught up with Bruce LaBruce's recent effort Saint Narcisse which was a filthy fun.
Reader Comments (6)
Saw THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING and the more I sit with it, the more disappointing I find it. It felt too cold/distant for what it was trying to say and the balance is way off (the middle felt a little draggy and the last act felt rushed/under-developed). Swinton/Elba deserved better.
Curious to see #s next weekend as a bunch of theaters are doing movies for only $3 (including premium screens) all day Saturday for National Cinema Day.
A short film starring Tilda Swinton in The Cycling Frame, Burning, and a couple of re-watches in Small Fry and Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo.
THE LOST LEONARDO - solid, if not that original, doco about the incorrigible art world
WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING - not as bad as people had made it out to be
HIT THE ROAD - maybe Panah Pabahi has had some of father Jafar's script-writing talent rub off on him
There were no new films for me this week to watch but caught up with some films I always wanted to watch but never got the chance until now. Two were standouts for different reasons:
Ashes and Diamond (1958)
This is the third installment in the anti-war trilogy of Polish director Andrzej Wajda. What got my attention is the vivid and imaginative b&w framing device used by Wajda and cinematographer Jerzy Wójcik to tell the story of Home Army soldiers at the end of the second world war. Maciek is the main character who began to question his role in exterminating a political opponent and by extension the movement. Romantic love gets in the way of fulfilling a job but can nationalistic commitment transcend it? When the postwar landscape emerges from the rubble, who remains? What becomes of the broken-hearted? Who gatekeeps the new society? Who survives? A brilliant turn from Zbigniew Cybulski as Maciek. Unforgettable ending.
Goodbye First Love (2011)
There is something about Mia Hansen-Løve's narrative style that just works for me. Her stories seem to exist in the interstitial spaces of people's lives in transition. Her films are like a cross between the coming-of-age films of Eliza Hittman and of Hirokazu Kore-eda. The story is about two young lovers and how they navigate their lives when one changes the rules of casual cohabitation. Some passion fizzles out as one outgrows one's youth, others remain undiminished. This film explores the latter and how love can ebb and flow, It is like a finely observed slice of life that gets inside the skin of the characters. Is Sullivan and Camille meant for each other? Is happy-ever-after just an adult propaganda? Like most enduring stories about love, oftentimes one ends up with the second-best, then realising that it might be the best after all.
I saw Both Sides of the Blade, which isn't even in the limited release top 16. It seemed kind of pointless. I just don't think I "get" Claire Denis. I did like 35 Shots of Rum and White Material (though I probably liked the latter mostly for Huppert's performance).
I also saw a rep screening of Baz's Romeo + Juliet. Incredible.
In theatres, I got to THE INVITATION and 3000 YEARS OF LONGING. The Invitation was pretty paint by numbers, but I went along with it for the goofy gothic fun. 3000 Years was bonkers and beautiful, but wasn't very satisfying.
Otherwise, the best film I rewatched this week was TOOTSIE which is always reliably wonderful. That best supporting actress category is insane and I would have gone for Lesley Ann Warren, but Lange is adding a lot to an underwritten role and I don't think it's a bad win at all, especially given that overall year for her.