With a couple of new films in the mix that didn’t exactly scream box office winners, the final full weekend of August at the box office has its estimates in with what did and didn’t perform.
On the new side of things, STX had another weak debut with The Happytime Murders landing in third place with just $10 million as it underperformed expectations – which is only going to get worse with a C- CinemaScore and not much in the way of good word of mouth. The film has a $40 million budget so with the usual multiplier involved it’s likely not going to break even theatrically unless something weird happens overseas with it – if it sees an overseas release at this point.
Global Road isn’t going to earn itself much recognition after its problems this year so far with the debut of A.X.L. in ninth place where it did $2.9 in just over 1,700 locations. There are no budget numbers out there for it but the opening take just points to failure. Even worse is that the company, according to Variety, is now being overseen by the financial backers and bankruptcy is likely in its future.
Also out this week was a remake of Papillon, which landed outside the top twelve with a $1.15 million take in 544 screens. We’ll see if Bleecker Street will expand that next weekend.
As for what’s been out, those Crazy Rich Asians took the top spot once again for a $25 million win that brings it to just under $77 million since its debut and will certainly help push more Asian actors into the forefront. With a small drop from last weekend’s numbers and strong weekday pickups the film has added some nice coin over twelve days. With a four-day weekend next weekend it could move a good bit more based on word of mouth.
And for fans of giant sea creatures, The Meg continues to do very well with another $13 million added to bring it to $105 million domestically while internationally it added another $32 million to bring its international to $303 million – or a worldwide take of $408 million to date. Suffice to say, sometimes these films just take a bite at the right time.
Also worth noting, Mission: Impossible – Fallout is still in the top five and is just a hair under $194 million in North America. It’s also racking up good numbers overseas and has a worldwide take of $538 million so far. It’ll likely come close to being the franchise-best domestically in a week or so as Rogue Nation topped out at $195 million and Ghost Protocol at $209 million. And, not adjusted for inflation, M:I 2 is at the top with $215 million.
While Labor Day next weekend isn’t the official end of summer, it is for the movie marketing folks and there are just a few more things landing. Searching is moving from nine screens to a wider release while MGM brings out Operation Finale in 1,800 screens. Lionsgate looks to sneak in some last minute science fiction for the holiday with Kin. And in some smaller markets, you may find The Little Stranger on 475 screens from Focus Features and Ya Veremos from Pantelion on 350 screens.
Additional details via BoxOfficeMojo