The critics didn’t much like Patrick Hughes’ The Hitman’s Bodyguard, which could register only a mediocre 39% positive rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences, which skewed slightly male (52%), liked the film quite a bit better, giving it a “B+” CinemaScore. The better-than-expected opening reinforces the drawing power of Samuel L. Jackson, and indicates that, post Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds just might have some star power as well. While it is unlikely that The Hitman’s Bodyguard will challenge Girls Trip (see below) for “R-rated comedy of the summer” honors, the $29 million production is off to a solid start.
Second place went to last week’s winner, the Conjuring horror franchise prequel Annabelle: Creation, which dipped 55.7% in its second weekend as it earned $15.5 million to bring its domestic 10-day total to $64 million. Annabelle: Creation posted the second best second weekend hold in the history of the franchise since the 2013 franchise-initiating The Conjuring (down 46%), and the film has made $96.7 million overseas for a worldwide haul of $160 million, which puts The Conjuring franchise over $1 billion globally against a combined cost of just $85 million for all four films. That kind of profit margin is the reason that a clutch of new Conjuring franchise films are in development including The Nun, which is slated to debut in 2018.
In contrast to their reaction to The Hitman’s Bodyguard, the critics loved Steven Soderbergh’s Logan Lucky, a hillbilly heist caper film that looks a bit like a remake of Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing with a Nascar track subbing in for a racetrack. Unfortunately it appears that a 93% positive critical rating doesn’t guarantee anyone will show up at the theaters. Logan Lucky earned just $8 million from over 3,000 theaters for a poor $2,656 per-venue average, Soderbergh’s worst showing in wide release since Solaris in 2002 ($6.7 million).
It would be great if Logan Lucky will find favor overseas or in the post-theatrical market since it represents a very interesting new paradigm for film financing. Soderbergh, who “retired” four years ago, put together the financing the $29 million production by pre-selling the movie overseas, and even financed a $20 million advertising campaign (that he personally directed) by selling home entertainment rights. Soderbergh thus had no studio interference to deal with, and produced a film that certainly did please the critics, though opening weekend audiences would give the film only a “B” CinemaScore, which doesn’t bode well for Logan Lucky’s theatrical longevity.
|
Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): August 18-20, 2017 |
||||||
|
Film |
Weekend Gross |
Screens |
Avg./Screen |
Total Gross |
Wk# |
|
|
1 |
The Hitman's Bodyguard |
$21,600,000 |
3,377 |
$6,396 |
$21,600,000 |
1 |
|
2 |
Annabelle: Creation |
$15,500,000 |
3,542 |
$4,376 |
$64,044,221 |
2 |
|
3 |
Logan Lucky |
$8,050,182 |
3,031 |
$2,656 |
$8,050,182 |
1 |
|
4 |
Dunkirk |
$6,700,000 |
3,271 |
$2,048 |
$165,508,079 |
5 |
|
5 |
The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature |
$5,113,278 |
4,003 |
$1,277 |
$17,696,923 |
2 |
|
6 |
The Emoji Movie |
$4,350,000 |
2,791 |
$1,559 |
$71,767,352 |
4 |
|
7 |
Spider-Man: Homecoming |
$4,250,000 |
2,341 |
$1,815 |
$314,051,381 |
7 |
|
8 |
Girls Trip |
$3,844,030 |
2,010 |
$1,912 |
$103,986,175 |
5 |
|
9 |
The Dark Tower |
$3,720,000 |
3,143 |
$1,184 |
$41,604,378 |
3 |
|
10 |
Wind River |
$3,025,236 |
694 |
$4,359 |
$4,138,505 |
3 |
A couple of late summer releases have shown great “legs.” Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, which dropped just 38.4% in its fifth weekend in theaters as it earned $6.7 million to bring its domestic total to $165.5 million, and Marvel Studio’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, which dropped just 29.4% in its seventh frame as it earned $4.3 million to bring its North American total to $314 million. Overseas Dunkirk has earned $227.2 million for a global total of $392.7 million, passing Batman Begins (not adjusting for inflation), which makes Dunkirk already the fifth highest grossing film that Nolan has directed, while Homecoming, which is yet to open in China, has earned $410.8 million overseas for a current global total of $724.9 million.
The good news continues for the R-rated comedy Girls Trip, which dropped 40.6% as it earned $3.84 million to bring its domestic total to $104 million, the best showing so far in 2017 from an R-rated comedy.
There are no glad tidings for Sony’s The Dark Tower, which dropped 52.4% in its third weekend as it earned $3.7 million to bring its 17-day total to $41.5 million. This cut-rate blockbuster, which was produced for $60 million, will have a hard time earning more than $50 million at the domestic box office.
Mention should be made of Taylor Sheridan’s Wind River, which added 649 theaters (to 694) and earned $3 million, a performance that was good enough to make the film #10 in what was overall, one of the worst weekends of the year at the box office.
Outside the top ten Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, the “leggiest” film of the summer, has passed the $800 million mark worldwide, and has now earned $404 million making it the #1 superhero origin film of all time, passing Sam Raimi’s 2002 Spider-Man ($403.7 million), though if you adjust for inflation, the 2002 film’s total is $543.4 million.
Be sure to check back here next week as a trio of films open in less than wide release including the animated feature Leapt, which will debut in about 2000 theaters, the Bruce Lee-inspired martial arts film Birth of the Dragon, which bows in 1,500, and the Christian-themed All Saints, which will debut in 800.
