There were two kinds of horror to choose from at the box office the weekend — an adaptation of Stephen King‘s most popular works, and a heady journey into Darren Aronofsky‘s psyche — and audiences made it clear which they preferred.
Coming off a fantastic opening weekend, “It” continued to hold strong, gathering another staggering $60 million and pushing the film’s ten-day total to $218 million. The figure marks the biggest September release of all time, and one of the highest second-week earnings ever – a feat made even more impressive given the film’s R-rating. After 1.4 weeks in theaters “It” has made an astonishing $317 million worldwide, so expect sequels, spin-off and Warner Bros. trying to figure out how they can leverage some kind of cinematic universe.
Clearly, word of mouth is strong too with “It” bucking the norms of the horror films which usually feature a steep second-week dropoff, by posting a solid 51% decline in ticket sales from last week. All that said, the good times will start to slacken next week with big competitors “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” and “The Lego Ninjago Movie” headed into multiplexes across the country.
A clever marketing campaign and lots of cinephile buzz couldn’t translate for the regular public who stayed away from “mother!“, which earned a paltry $7.5 million. The film divided critics, and not even Jennifer Lawrence‘s star power could sell people on the audacious picture that might’ve played its advertising a little too ambiguously (one wonders if Paramount should’ve goosed the midnight movie aspects of the film). That said, the financial stakes were fairly low for the $30 million budgeted movie, which will likely eventually crawl to break even, though not theatrically, as the F grade CinemaScore means this won’t be on the big screen for too long. No one’s career is going to be stung too hard by this, even though the film marks the worst wide-release opening in both the director and actress’ career. Lawrence will still get the best scripts in town on her doorstep, and A-listers will still want to work with Aronofsky, though the filmmaker may have to pivot back toward the mainstream with his next movie if he still wants major studio support.
Lionsgate‘s Baby Bourne “American Assassin” rolled into cinemas with a respectable $14.8 million. Considering it’s the big screen launch for Dylan O’Brien outside “The Maze Runner” series, and tackling grittier material, it’s a good landing. Even better, the film looks poised to make good on its $33 million budget. That said, the movie is based on a series of books based around O’Brien’s character Mitch Rapp, and these numbers don’t suggest a big screen followup. However, a TV spinoff — with or without the “Teen Wolf” star — is probably something Lionsgate (who are already developing a series based on “John Wick“) are considering.
At the arthouse, “Brad’s Status” came out of its premiere at TIFF and landed in four cinemas to the tune of $100,179. It’s a nice launch, but it doesn’t seem like the film will make much more financial noise.
Looking abroad, Christopher Nolan‘s “Dunkirk” has crossed $500 million worldwide and now stands with $508 million. “War For The Planet Of The Apes” opened strong in China with $62 million, bringing its worldwide haul to $287 million, though it remains about $280 million off the mark of its predecessor. And man, what a difference a release in China makes. For weeks, “Spider-Man: Homecoming” was trailing “The Amazing Spider-Man” in box-office receipts; not a good look when you consider the “failure” narrative that dogged Sony’s franchise starring Andrew Garfield. But thanks to China, ‘Homecoming’ has grossed $861 million so far. The picture will definitely outgross “Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 2” and $900 million is within reach.
1. “It” — $60 million ($218.7 mil.)
2. “American Assassin” — $14.8 million
3. “mother!” — $7.5 million
4. “Home Again” — $5.3 million ($17.1 mil.)
5. “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” — $3.5 million ($70.3 mil.)
6. “Annabelle: Creation” — $2.6 million ($99.9 mil.)
7. “Wind River” — $2.5 million ($29.1 mil.)
8. “Leap!” — $2.1 million ($18.6 mil.)
9. “Spider-Man: Homecoming” — $1.8 million ($330.2 mil.)
10. “Dunkirk” — $1.3 million ($185.1 mil.)