Box Office: Here "Mamma Mia!" goes again, to #2 on the charts

by Nathaniel R

In a surprising turn of events Mamma Mia! 2 couldn't inch past Equalizer 2 despite a much higher-grossing preceding film. The absence of Meryl versus the presence of Denzel musta tipped it because it was super close with a 34/35 million battle! Much closer than last time around when Mamma Mia! faced off with The Dark Knight on its own opening weekend back in 2008 for a 27/158 million opening weekend.

In limited release theaters were packed for two new films, the fashion doc McQueen, and the new police brutality drama Blindspotting, while A24's deeply felt and delightfully awkward Eighth Grade had a great second weekend.  What did you see this weekend?

Weekend Box Office Estimates (July 20th-22nd)
W I D E 800+ screens	L I M I T E D excluding prev. wide
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again	Eighth Grade
1.🔺 THE EQUALIZER 2 $35.8 *NEW*	1. 🔺 THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS $1.4 on 332 screens (cum. $4.5) REVIEW
2. 🔺MAMMA MIA: HERE WE GO AGAIN $34.3 *NEW* REVIEW	2. 🔺 LEAVE NO TRACE  $895k on 361 screens (cum. $3.6) TRAILER DISCUSSION
3.  HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3 $23.1 (cum. $91)	3.  🔺EIGHTH GRADE $794k on 33 screens (cum. $1.1)
4. ANT-MAN AND THE WASP $16.1 (cum. $164.6)	4.  🔺 BLINDSPOTTING $332k on 14 screens *NEW*
5. THE INCREDIBLES 2 $11.5 (cum. $557.3)	5. 🔺 DON'T WORRY HE WON'T GET FAR ON FOOT $265k on 62 screens (cum. $380k)

Sorry to Bother You	McQueen
6. JURASSIC WORLD FALLEN KINGDOM  $11 (cum. $383.9)  REVIEW	6. 🔺 SANJU $220k on 112 screens (cum. $7.6)
7. SKYSCRAPER $10.9 (cum. $46.7)	7. RBG  $168k on 116 screens  (cum. $13.1)
8. THE FIRST PURGE $4.9 (cum. $60.1)	8. WHITNEY  $118k on 117 screens (cum. $2.7)
9. 🔺 UNFRIENDED DARK WEB  $3.4 *NEW*	9. 🔺 MCQUEEN $96k on 4 screens *NEW* REVIEW
10. SORRY TO BOTHER YOU  $2.8 (cum. $10.2)  REVIEW	10. SOORMA $78k on 50 screens (cum. $328K)
🔺 = new or expanding its theater count numbers (in millions unless otherwise noted) from box office mojo

What did you see this weekend? And who wins next weekend?

by Nathaniel R

Weekend Box Office Estimates (July 13th-15th)
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... 

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