We are quickly running out of superlatives to throw at Warner Bros’ “Crazy Rich Asians.” The rom-com opened to a really nice box office number three weeks ago, combined with impressive reviews, ensuring the film would be picked up for a sequel. Then a week later, the film shows almost no Box Office drop, which is not only incredible but pretty much unheard of. And for its third weekend? “Crazy Rich Asians” does it again, with another ridiculously low drop and beings piling up the milestones.
After the 4-day holiday weekend, “Crazy Rich Asians” earned another $28.3 million to retain the top spot at the box office. And for a more apples-to-apples comparison, the film earned $22.1 million over Friday to Sunday, which is only a -11% drop from the previous weekend, and to further show how impressive the rom-com is faring, that 3-day total is only -17% off the original opening weekend. Nuts.
Overall, “Crazy Rich Asians” has pulled up $117 million domestically, which makes it the highest-grossing rom-com in nine years. At this point, it’s silly to begin to project how much the film will earn, as it’s defied every expectation since release. However, there is probably nothing stopping “Crazy Rich Asians” from coasting past $150 million and ending up somewhere in the $175 million domestic range. For perspective, if ‘Asians’ does reach that $175 million number, the film would become the #6 rom-com of all time, and if it can eek out $183 million, it would move into #2 all time. So, we can definitely expect some more milestones in the weeks ahead.
As for the big debuts this week, “Operation Finale” leads the way with $7.8 million after 4 days, good for a #4 showing. The Oscar Isaac/Ben Kingsley post-WWII drama did pretty well for its debut, considering the film only hit just over 1,800 theaters. And even though the film technically didn’t debut this weekend, “Searching” opened wide in over 1,200 theaters and pulled in an incredible $7.65 million. Of all the films in wide release, the John Cho-starrer had a better per-theater-average than anything other than ‘Asians.’
READ MORE: Oscar Issac & Ben Kingsley Shine In Uneven ‘Operation Finale’ [Review]
Now, for those debuts that weren’t so great, we have “Kin” coming in at #12, with a 4-day total of $3.6 million. That’s a truly dismal opening for a film that sports the star power of Dennis Quaid and James Franco, as well as rising stars Jack Reynor and Zoe Kravitz. For those hoping to check the film out on the big screen, you better run to the theaters soon because “Kin” won’t be around for much longer.
In limited release (just under 500 theaters), “Room” filmmaker Lenny Abrahamson’s latest, “The Little Stranger,” also disappointed. The film, which is marketed as a straight-up haunted house horror film (though our review points to a pretty great gothic drama), only pulled in $478,000 over 4 days. Even with its limited release, that total is only good for just over $1,000 per theater, which means that fans aren’t connecting with ‘Stranger.’
Now’s the point in our round-up where we call out those films that have been sticking around and quietly put together some milestones. First, we have “Mission: Impossible — Fallout,” which finally crossed $200 million, with a domestic total of $206 million. The film also debuted in China, and as expected, had a franchise-best opening of $77.3 million. All told, ‘Fallout’ has earned almost $650 million worldwide, as it marches towards $700 million.
“Incredibles 2” (remember that film?) also continues to add to its records. The animated superhero film earned another $4.5 million this holiday weekend and pulled its domestic total to $602 million. The Pixar film is the first animated feature to earn more than $600 million in North America. As for another superhero film, “Ant-Man and the Wasp” continues its impressive overseas haul, as it now has a worldwide total of $595 million, and should easily cross $600 by this time next week.
Oh, and since this was technically the last weekend of the summer, it only seems fitting to talk about one of the biggest disappointments, compared to one of the biggest surprises. “The Meg,” after quietly chugging along right behind “Crazy Rich Asians,” now sits at a worldwide gross of $467 million, which is startling when you think that many were banking on the film to be a massive bomb. To really paint a picture of how this summer went, that worldwide total for “The Meg” is almost $75 million more than “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” When its all said and done, Jason Statham’s shark film should make over $100 million more than Disney’s latest “Star Wars” adventure. Wow.
Next week will probably be the first week that “Crazy Rich Asians” loses that top spot, as WB begins the horror season with the highly-anticipated “The Nun.” And for those looking for some more action-oriented fare, Jennifer Garner kicks butt in the new film “Peppermint.”
Here’s the entire top 10 for August 31 to September 3 (4-day totals):
1. Crazy Rich Asians — $28.3M ($117M overall)
2. The Meg — $13M ($123M)
3. Mission: Impossible — Fallout — $9M ($206M)
4. Operation Finale — $7.8M (Debut)
5. Searching — $7.65M ($9.5M)
6. Disney’s Christopher Robin — $6.7M ($87M)
7. Alpha — $6M ($29M)
8. The Happytime Murders — $5.5M ($18M)
9. BlacKkKlansman — $5.3M ($39M)
10. Mile 22 — $4.6M ($32.7M)