Spending on the Top10 films this wknd tumbled down to a pathetic $45M. Worst wknd #boxoffice in 16 yrs! Since period right after 9/11.
— Gitesh Pandya (@GiteshPandya) August 27, 2017
With $65M total for all films in release, Hollywood suffered its worst domestic weekend of 2017, in fact, its lowest grossing in many years.
— Exhibitor Relations (@ERCboxoffice) August 27, 2017
OK, this sums it up well: it was a really shitty weekend at the movies and as noted by the above box office gurus, the entire top 10 combined only accounted for $65 million (a steep 45% drop from last weekend). That’s an incredibly dismal figure. However, just for some counterbalancing context, this weekend and next weekend are always terrible at the box office: late August is the summer equivalent of January where all the studios dump the turkeys they know won’t perform. None of this is much of a surprise. However, yes, box office numbers keep dwindling and it’s getting worse out there as the rise of Peak TV gives audiences tons of strong options — what would you rather see, “Twin Peaks” and “Game of Thrones” or “The Hitman’s Bodyguard”? — and Netflix and Amazon provide viewers with further reasons to stay home. Strong is key. TV has been around forever, but given its drastic rise in quality dovetailing with the convenience of technology, you have a theater-going business that’s in full-on crisis.
There’s always outliers and strong movies will bring audiences out no matter what, but it’s becoming a feast or famine scenario: a strongly recommended film will take in some boffo receipts (as the Variety crowd used to say) and a movie absent of extreme enthusiasm around it will sink like a stone. Yes, it’s part of the “Rotten Tomatoes effect,” but it’s foolish to believe it’s just RT’s fault; it’s a confluence of all these forces working in concert. Think about the way the iPod radically and irrevocably impacted and perhaps even killed the music industry for at least a few years (they recovered, but the business model completely shifted away from album sales to merchandising and live shows). Technology has had the same impact on media.
Look at the box office like climate change with statistical evidence that doesn’t lie. A slow, but insistent erosion is happening with attendance and receipts. If something isn’t done to combat this climate change, the theatrical experience as we know it could be irreparably damaged. Yes, it’ll always exist, the Drafthouse and speciality theaters of that ilk, but the theatrical experience is definitely under threat.
I digress. This minging weekend at the box office was topped by the aforementioned “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” which took the number #1 slot for a second week in a row. But as the weekend total suggests, it’s not pulling in amazing numbers. ‘Bodyguard’ sits just shy of $40 million total after two weeks.
READ MORE: Patty Jenkins Responds To James Cameron’s ‘Wonder Woman’ Comments
The other element to consider regarding the box office this weekend was the fact there were hardly any new releases and no worthy ones to speak of. The ailing Weinstein Company had the animated non-starter “Leap!” (you’ll be excused if you never heard of it), Sony tried to make something of their faith-based offering “All Saints,” and no one seemed to care about the 3D re-release of “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” (James Cameron will immediately shelf plans for any other 3D re-releases of his films while Patty Jenkins quietly chuckles to herself). Blumhouse‘s multiplatform wing BH-Tilt at least cracked the top 10 with “Birth of the Dragon,” but nothing really moved the needle.
It didn’t light up the box-office like Bleecker Street hoped, but Steven Sodbergh’s “Logan Lucky” had a good second-week hold at least (-42.5%). It’s apparently already a profitable picture (everyone worked for scale, the business model is much different from Hollywood standards), but at $15 million total, everyone involved is likely disappointed that the working-class characters from the South did not connect with Red State audiences.
READ MORE: Rotten Tomatoes Claims Another Victim In ‘The Dark Tower’ [Podcast]
Holdover releases were the real weekend story, so much as there was a story, but “Wonder Woman” was re-released in IMAX theaters (2210 total) and the little boost will possibly inch the movie towards $410 million total. Its box office run is basically done, but the super hero actioner is the second highest grossing movie of the year so far domestically, the fifth highest worldwide ($806M), and it’s easily one of the biggest success stories of the year.
With $318 million total in North America receipts, “Spider-Man: Homecoming” surpassed “Iron Man“‘s total from 2008 and has become the 7th highest grossing Marvel film of all time at home. But with $737 million to its name globally (less than “Deadpool” and “The Amazing Spider-Man” for example), it’s still going to need China and Japan and about another $80 million or so to be deemed a true success narratively.
Even the extremely maligned “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” has made more money at a shocking near-$800 million worldwide. In case you’re wondering about another terribly received blockbuster, “Transformers: The Last Knight” just squeaked past $600 million ’round the world (down an astounding $501 million, or 45%, from the last picture). And while we’re here, a friendly reminder that when none of us were looking “Despicable Me 3” made an insane $971 million worldwide: the highest grossing film of the summer globally by a huge margin. It could still hit $1 billion too.
“Baby Driver” just opened in China and Russia and those figures should help the picture zoom past $200 million when all is said and done (currently sitting at $194M world wide). And “Girls Trip” hit a whopping $120 million domestically; it’s no wonder a sequel is on its way. Limited release offerings weren’t much of a conversation this weekend, but the critically acclaimed “Beach Rats” from Neon racked up a strong $15,003 per screen average from three screens.
1. The Hitman’s Bodyguard — $10,050,000 ($39,614,004)
2. Annabelle: Creation — $7,350,000 ($77,880,384)
3. Leap! — $5,015,500
4. Wind River — $4,410,610 ($9,840,823)
5. Logan Lucky — $4,366,894 ($15,034,307)
6. Dunkirk — $3,950,000 ($172,479,030)
7. Spider-Man: Homecoming — $2,725,000 ($318,843,082)
8. Birth of the Dragon — $2,501,100
9. The Emoji Movie — $2,350,000 ($76,431,471)
10. Girls Trip — $2,266,745 ($108,072,270)