‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ Hits Bullseye, ‘Logan Lucky’ Spins Out [Box Office]

All summer, studios have been complaining about Rotten Tomatoes having too much of an influence on moviegoers. Well, this weekend proved that people will see what they want to see, regardless of what critics say.

Mostly negative notices didn’t stop the charm offensive from Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson, who teamed up to take “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” to $21.6 million. Sure, it’s not “Deadpool” numbers, but it’s a good showing for the R-rated movie, that’s budgeted at $29 million. While Reynolds has had better non-franchise debuts at the box office (“Safe House,” “The Proposal,” even “The Amityville Horror“) this is crucially his best post-“Deadpool” launch. “Criminal” tanked, and the underrated “Life” just couldn’t find an audience. But both of those movies didn’t feature Reynolds being #onbrand, with a sassy attitude and one-liners flying left and right. It’s safe to say he won’t be straying too far from that template for a while.

On the other end of the spectrum, “Logan Lucky” was near universally praised, but Steven Soderbergh‘s “return” to filmmaking didn’t raise much interest. Despite having a stacked cast including Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, and Hilary Swank, the heist comedy pulled in a dreadful $8 million. It’s one of the worst wide release openings of the director’s career (only “Solaris” pulled in lower figures) and it’s truly puzzling where this went wrong. My guess is that the marketing simply didn’t connect and/or audiences didn’t want to see Tatum, Craig, et al stray from their usual screen personas. The silver lining here is that the film’s $29 million budget was covered by international pre-sales (and the cast worked for scale) so no one is going to lose their shirt, but no one is making much money either.

In limited release, a number of new movies arrived at the arthouse including Sundance sensation “Patti Cake$,” talking sci-fi drama “Marjorie Prime,” and L.A. riots drama “Gook,” and they all did respectable, but not quite outstanding numbers. However, “Wind River” expanded into just under 700 cinemas, and cracked the top ten with $3 million.

In box office milestones, Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” will reach the $400 million mark worldwide by next weekend, but would still need to rise much higher to match “American Sniper” ($547 million), one of (if not) the highest grossing war movie of all time. Domestically, “Spider-Man: Homecoming” has nearly arrived at $315 million and globally it’s made for a $725 million total (7^th highest grossing film of 2017). With China and Japan still to come, you’re looking at a Marvel/Sony movie that might hit $850 million unless “Spider-Man” fatigue proves to be more than just a North American phenomenon. As of right now though, it’s still trailing “The Amazing Spider-Man” by about $30 million, so those territories are key to its narrative.

“Wonder Woman” has officially surpassed the $800 million mark and has become the fifth highest grossing film of 2017 worldwide. It’s a remarkable figure, but it’s about as high as it’s going to go, so don’t put hopes in the super hero figure movie besting “Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 2” ($862 million).

And the friendly reminder of a film you’ve probably never heard of. “Wolf Warrior 2,” co-starring Frank Grillo in the film’s only Caucasian role, has become the highest grossing film in China of all time (and it’s the 8^th highest grossing film of 2017 so far). The Chinese actioner has amassed $679 million in its home country surpassing last year’s hit, “The Mermaid” by $153 million. Does this make Frank Grillo a star in China? Hard to say, but you can bet the next time he’s offered a role in a Chinese production, he’s likely going to take it; these numbers can only help his career.

1. “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” — $21.6 million
2. “Annabelle: Creation” — $15.5 million ($64 mil.)
3. “Logan Lucky” — $8 million
4. “Dunkirk” — $6.7 million ($165.5 mil.)
5. “The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature”— $5.1 million ($17.6 mil.)
6. “The Emoji Movie” — $4.3 million ($71.7 mil.)
7. “Spider-Man: Homecoming” — $4.2 million ($314 mil.)
8. “Girls Trip” — $3.8 million ($103.9 mil.)
9. “The Dark Tower” — $3.7 million ($41.6 mil.)
10. “Wind River” — $3 million ($4.1 mil.)