OPENINGS: Hollywood’s barely-breathing Labor Day weekend didn’t get any healthier on Saturday. The CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (Columbia/Sony) re-release had a 35% Saturday bump, and like everything else in the market, it will hold nearly steady on this holiday Sunday, then have a Sunday-type decline on Monday. (The exception is that children’s movies will hold strongly on Monday as well.) Close Encounters is at $1.8M through Sunday in 901 theatres, and should get to $2.25M for the full holiday, as it heads to homevideo release next week.
TULIP FEVER (Weinstein) climbed 22% on Saturday with a 3-day 765-theatre total of $1.2M that should get it to $1.5M by Monday, after all those years of delay doomed to be a memory in a few days.
AMERICAN MADE (Universal) continues to roll out overseas a month in advance of its US opening. This weekend it’s in 35 markets and grossed a very slow $9.1M, putting its international total at $19.8M. This isn’t the way Tom Cruise wanted to follow The Mummy.
HOLDOVERS: THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD (Millenium/Summit/Lionsgate) reaped the rewards of Hollywood’s refusal to engage this weekend, virtually dead even with last week at $10.3M, which should become $13M tomorrow, on its way to $75M in the US. It hasn’t arrived overseas yet.
ANNABELLE: CREATION (New Line/Warners) dipped 5% in the US to $7.3M ($9M with Monday), and should top $100M before it’s done. Overseas, it’s at $164.4M after a $15.6M weekend in 62 territories. It will move past the first Annabelle‘s $256.9M worldwide total in a few days.
WIND RIVER (Weinstein) added 507 theatres to its run and gained 27% on its 5th weekend to $5.9M ($7M tomorrow), heading to a solid $30M in the US.
LEAP (Weinstein) rose 3% from last weekend thanks to families needing holiday entertainment to $4.9M ($6.5M with Monday), although it still may not reach $25M in the US.
LOGAN LUCKY (Fingerprint/Bleecker Street) started slow, and it may never recover from that, but it’s showing good word of mouth, up 4% in its 3rd weekend to $4.4M/$5.5M. Even if it reaches $35M in the US, though, it will still need overseas success to find profit.
DUNKIRK (Warners) is still rolling along in the US, up 5% in its 7th weekend to $4.1/$5M as it pushes toward $190M in the US (which would beat Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar). Its big news this weekend, though, was its arrival in China, where it earned $30M for a $36.5M international weekend, putting it at $280M overseas to date with Japan opening next week.
The promised land of China opens to SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (Marvel/Columbia/Sony) next week. For now, it had a remarkable 29% US bump in its 8th weekend (despite a slight reduction in theatres) to $3.7/$4.7M, on its way to $330M+ here, with Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 and its $336.5M in Homecoming‘s sights. Overseas, it’s at $422.1M after a China-less $1.6M weekend.
In the US, a trio of animated holdovers were virtually tied for the weekend: THE EMOJI MOVIE (Columbia/Sony) down 2% to $2.5M/$3.5M, DESPICABLE ME 3 (Illumination/Universal) up 35% to $2.4/$3.4M, and THE NUT JOB 2: NUTTY BY NATURE (Open Road) down 13% to $2M/$2.7M. But their totals are planets apart, as Emoji moves to $85M in the US and has $79.2M overseas after a $6.8M weekend in 56 territories, Despicable heads to $265M in the US and will reach $1B worldwide next week after hitting $736.1M with a $9.9M weekend in 60 markets, and Nutty will hope to get past $30M in the US with no overseas presence.
Despite the holiday, BIRTH OF THE DRAGON (WWE/Blumhouse/BH Top/Universal) collapsed by 35% in its 2d weekend to $1.8M/$2.2M, unlikely to reach $10M in the US.
ALL SAINTS (Affirm/Columbia/Sony) also slumped, down 16% to $1.3M/$1.6M and heading for $7M in the US.
LIMITED RELEASE: INHUMANS (Marvel/ABC/Disney) was an ambitious attempt to stir up excitement with an IMAX run of the series pilot 4 weeks in advance of its airing, but the project was terrible and nobody cared, with a $3800 3-day per-theatre average despite full IMAX ticket prices. HAZLO COMO HOMBRE (Pantelion/Lionsgate), the latest attempt to appeal to the Latino audience, fell flat with a $2900 3-day average at 382. I DO… UNTIL I DON’T (Film Arcade) faced scathing reviews and averaged $1100 at 165. VICEROY’S HOUSE (IFC, also on VOD) opened with a $11K average at 4. PATTI CAKE$ (Fox Searchlight) expanded disastrously to 295 theatres with a $850 average. THE TRIP TO SPAIN (IFC, also on VOD) averaged $1600 at 140. MENASHE (A24) expanded to 126 and averaged $1600. CROWN HEIGHTS (Amazon/IFC) averaged $1200 at 55. BEACH RATS (Neon) averaged $5600 at 8.
NEXT WEEKEND: Despite the recent failure of The Dark Tower, tracking is bright for the adaptation of Stephen King’s IT (New Line/Warners). Counterprogramming will come from the Reese Witherspoon vehicle HOME AGAIN (Open Road). 9/11 (Atlas) and REBEL IN THE RYE (IFC) will arrive in limited release.
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