Labor Day Weekend isn’t normally known as a time to highlight the biggest blockbuster a studio might have. Sure, there’s an extra day to get people’s attention, but this weekend is normally known as a time when parents and children prepare for the upcoming school year, while others lament the summer gone by. Basically, not the best time to expect people to run out to the theater. With that in mind, it’s no surprise that this weekend’s box office report will feel a bit similar to last weekend’s, as studios largely steered clear.
That being said, there are some pretty interesting stories to cover, and one new film that opened (kinda-sorta) wide. But in a change of pace, let’s start out by talking about some worldwide numbers.
In its fifth weekend at the domestic box office, ‘Hobbs & Shaw,’ the first spin-off of ‘Fast & Furious’ continues to muscle its way to a decent cume, with a decent $8.2 million 4-day weekend and a total of $157 million overall. However, as we mentioned when the film first opened, the worldwide box office was going to tell the tale of the Dwayne Johnson/Jason Statham film. And that’s panning out to be the case, as the film has been doing gangbusters overseas, particularly in China, where the film has earned an estimated $166 million (and should reach $200 million). The worldwide cume for the film is an impressive $684 million, and will easily pass $700 million in a week or so.
What this means is that ‘Hobbs & Shaw’ can be labeled as a modest win for Universal and the studio’s franchise-expanding plans for ‘Fast & Furious.’ Surely, the studio would have hoped for something at least $800 million, but with the domestic total for the film struggling more than anticipated, it’s clear that overseas is going to be the real winner for future spin-offs. This is best illustrated when you look at the international results for ‘Fast & Furious 6,’ which earned almost $800 million worldwide. ‘Hobbs & Shaw’ is likely going to eclipse that film’s $550 million international number while still falling behind domestically. Long story short, the international territories, once again, save the day for a film franchise.
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Another film that is seeing its worldwide total reach new milestones is “Spider-Man: Far From Home.” Despite the recent Sony/Disney drama over the rights to the character, ‘Far From Home’ saw a dramatic uptick this weekend thanks to a special Labor Day Weekend re-release that added new footage to the film. This led to a 4-day total of $5.5 million and a domestic total of $385 million. This puts the film within $7 million of passing “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” and entering the top 10 for Marvel Studios films. Perhaps better even for the film is the fact that worldwide, the latest ‘Spider-Man’ film has earned $1.122 billion, which is only $6 million behind this year’s “Captain Marvel.” Needless to say, it would appear that Spider-Man is going to exit the MCU with a bang.
Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is also approaching a bit of a worldwide milestone. After this weekend, the film currently stands at an estimated $284 million worldwide. This means the film will easily pass $300 million in the weeks to come and with the addition of even more territories, will likely pass “Inglourious Basterds” and its $321 million worldwide gross. That being said, ‘Once Upon a Time’ has an uphill battle if it wants to be the biggest Tarantino film of them all, with “Django Unchained” leading the way with a $425 million worldwide total.
Pausing from the blockbusters, we’re going to switch gears and discuss those smaller films that made a mark this holiday weekend, starting with Blumhouse’s “Don’t Let Go.” The latest low-budget thriller from the production company opened in a little bit less than 1,000 locations and earned a decent $3 million over the 4-day weekend. Not terrible, considering the slow weekend and the film’s modest $5 million budget. But for this film to really be successful, it’s going to need to stick around and have some legs in the weeks to come. (Spoiler alert — with a 43% Rotten Tomatoes score, meaning buzz might not be there for the flick, combined with next weekend’s “It: Chapter Two” opening, “Don’t Let Go” seems destined to disappear from the multiplex pretty fast.)
One film that continues to do well as it expands, however, is “The Peanut Butter Falcon.” The crowd-pleaser added 253 more locations (over 1,200 to date) and earned $4 million this holiday weekend. That pushes the Shia LaBeouf-led film past to almost $9 million and well on its way to becoming a decent breakout for Roadside Attractions, as the summer comes to an end.
And last weekend’s limited release star, “Brittany Runs A Marathon,” continued to expand, now in 49 screens. Unfortunately, the expansion has seriously hurt the film’s Per-Theater-Average, which currently stands at $8,454. Obviously, Amazon Studios would have hoped for a bigger number in the film’s second weekend.
As mentioned, this is a slow weekend due to the holiday, but also because studios are making way for next weekend’s debut of “It: Chapter Two.” That film is expected to ring in the fall film season with a bang and earn well over $100 million in its first three days. From then on, every weekend is going to see yet another high-profile fall film debut, in what is poised to be one of the busiest seasons of the year, as we begin our annual awards discussion.