‘Equalizer 2’ Surprises Everyone And Sucker Punches ‘Mamma Mia 2’ At The Box Office

As we approached this weekend, the story to watch out for was whether or not “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation” would have a good enough second weekend to knock incoming film, “The Equalizer 2,” to #3. Because clearly, “Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!” was going to take the top spot. Well, apparently, we should never count out Denzel Washington.

In a surprise turn of events, ‘Equalizer’ wildly exceeded the mid-$20 million predictions to finish the weekend at #1 with a total of $35.8 million. Instead of seeing the typical sequel drop, as with most non-Marvel Studios films, ‘Equalizer 2’ actually beat the first film’s opening weekend, proving yet again that people just love Denzel Washington and are looking for a more adult action film. From here, it would appear that the sequel is on pace to equal or better the first film’s $101 million domestic total. Could we be looking at a new action franchise?

Even though ‘Equalizer’ exceeded expectations and surprised everyone with a #1 showing doesn’t mean ‘Mamma Mia 2’ underperformed. In fact, the sequel outperformed its predecessor with a $34.4 million weekend, beating the first film by almost $7 million. The real question is how well the film performs over the coming weeks. The first ‘Mamma Mia’ was a surprise hit and had incredible staying power, earning $144 million domestically. The good news for ‘Mamma Mia’ is that the audience that the film is trying to attract (older adults and women) tends not to rush out on opening weekend to see a movie. So we can probably expect a good hold next weekend.

As for the other opening film this weekend, “Unfriended: Dark Web” opened at #9 with $3.5 million. The horror sequel might not put up ‘Purge’ numbers, but BH Tilt (the smaller production arm of Blumhouse) should be okay with this number, especially considering the film’s $1 million budget.

As for last weekend’s big films, ‘Hotel Transylvania 3’ showed impressive staying power, with only a -47.5% drop and a weekend total of $23 million. The domestic total for the children’s threequel is $91 million after 2 weeks. Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp” is also hanging around with a #4 showing of $16 million, bringing its domestic total to $164 million. That means we should see the sequel outgross the first ‘Ant-Man’ domestically by next weekend. As for last weekend’s shockingly low opening, “Skyscraper,” the Dwayne Johnson film, had the typical -56% drop this weekend, with $10.96 million and landing at #7. With a domestic total of only $46.7 million, things aren’t looking great for Johnson’s latest action flick.

As for the more indie fare, last weekend’s surprising “Sorry to Bother You” opened wider, now in more than 1,000 theaters, with a #10 showing and $2.8 million for the weekend. The film now sits at $10.3 million domestically, as it continues to expand.

In limited release, another festival darling, “Blindspotting,” opened in 14 theaters and pulled in a per-theater-average of $23,750 and a total of $332, 500. The timely comedy with a social message currently has a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and is sure to make some noise as it opens wide in the coming weeks. Also opening in limited release is the documentary “McQueen,” which sports an impressive per-theater-average of $24,232 in only four theaters.

Next weekend sees the opening of “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” and kids film “Teen Titans GO! to the Movies.” Will ‘Fallout’ open on par with previous ‘M:I’ films or will the competition be too much? And how will ‘Teen Titans’ fare against the animated superhero film dominating the box office, “Incredibles 2?”

Here’s the whole top 10 for July 20 to July 22:

1. The Equalizer 2 — $35.8M (Debut)
2. Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! — $34.4M (Debut)
3. Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation — $23M ($91M Total)
4. Ant-Man and the Wasp — $16M ($164.6M)
5. Incredibles 2 — $11.5M ($557M)
6. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom — $11M ($384M)
7. Skyscraper — $10.96M ($46.7M)
8. The First Purge — $5M ($60M)
9. Unfriended: Dark Web — $3.5M (Debut)
10. Sorry to Bother You — $2.8M ($10.3M)