Before this weekend, many box office analysts (and even Warner Bros. themselves) were anticipating a modest showing for “The Meg.” While the film has had an aggressive marketing campaign, the buzz surrounding the film was that it was an expensive, and bad, shark movie that wouldn’t connect with fans. Well, much like the megalodon at the center of the story, the opening of “The Meg” was much bigger than everyone expected.
With an estimated $44.5 million opening, “The Meg” has capsized any previous expectations and turned what could have been an embarrassing end-of-summer flop for WB into a seemingly successful endeavor. The Jason Statham action film opened big and easily won the weekend. And to make the news even sweeter for the studio, “The Meg” pulled in an impressive B+ CinemaScore, which means this big-budgeted shark flick might actually turn a profit.
To put our Nostradamus hat on for a second, it appears that “The Meg” could end up with a domestic total well north of $125 million and approaching $150 million. With reports saying the film cost upwards of $150 million (perhaps more) to produce, WB needs this domestic total, with a healthy international box office to get in the black on this film. And judging by the early reports out of China, specifically, it looks like Statham’s film could actually do it. In China this weekend, the film pulled in an estimated $50.3 million, for an international total of $97 million. That gives the opening weekend for “The Meg” at a worldwide total of $141.5 million. Not bad for a PG-13 shark thriller that the star and director were both disappointed in.
“The Meg” might have created some smiling faces over at WB this weekend, but over at Paramount, the shark film’s success meant its blockbuster “Mission: Impossible — Fallout,” wasn’t able to have another weekend atop the box office top 10. Instead, the film finished second with an estimated $20 million in its third weekend. The sixth installment in the Tom Cruise franchise is still doing well, however, and the film’s box office legs seem to be holding steady.
As for the other major opening this weekend, the news was…well, just flat-out bad.
“Slender Man,” the ill-advised horror film based on the Internet urban legend, pulled in a paltry $11.3 million in its opening frame. While the film holds a modest budget, the disastrous D- CinemaScore has all but guaranteed this film will begin its steep fall down the charts next weekend. Horror films live and die by word of mouth, and a D- is most likely a death sentence.
And the only other major opening this weekend is Spike Lee’s Cannes standout “BlacKkKlansman.” The true story of the first-ever Black Colorado Springs police officer that somehow (hilariously) joined the KKK has opened with a decent $10.8 million in just over 1,000 theaters. The film carries a reported budget of about $15 million, so the opening isn’t the greatest ever. However, unlike “Slender Man,” “BlacKkKlansman” earned an A- Cinemacore, which means that Lee has struck a nerve with audiences with his latest film. We’ll see how word of mouth carries this film in the coming weeks.
As for the rest of the top 10, there were a couple of milestones reached. First, “Mamma Mia 2” crossed over the $100 million mark with $5.8 million this weekend and a domestic total of $104 million overall. And for a first in the franchise, “Ant-Man and the Wasp” hit a milestone with a $4 million weekend and $203.5 million overall domestically.
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Next weekend, we’ll have an interesting top 10, with the debuts of “Crazy Rich Asians” (with a Wednesday open), Mark Wahlberg action film “Mile 22,” and the family film “Alpha.” We’ll have to see if “The Meg” can shock us yet again.
Here’s the full top 10 for August 10 to August 12:
1. The Meg — $44.5M (Debut)
2. Mission: Impossible — Fallout — $20M ($162M Overall)
3. Disney’s Christopher Robin — $12.4M ($50M)
4. Slender Man — $11.3M (Debut)
5. BlacKkKlansman — $10.8M (Debut)
6. The Spy Who Dumped Me — $6.6M ($24.6M)
7. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again — $5.8M ($104M)
8. The Equalizer 2 — $5.5M ($89.6M)
9. Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation — $5.1M (147M)
10. Ant-Man and the Wasp — $4M ($203.5M)