By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com

Four-Day Weekend Estimates

The Hitman’s Bodyguard stayed at the top of moviegoing for a third weekend with an estimated $13.4 million during the four-day span of the Labor Day holiday. Revenues for the session inched toward $100 million for a record low, at the very least since the start of the twenty-first century.

Summer 2017 started promisingly in May, but sputtered as the season went on, then collapsed in August. The final number for the frame is estimated to be $3.84 billion; another record low. This is a 14% decline from 2016.

The top distributor during the period was Warner Bros. with a cumulative of $792 million, which translated into a 20.6% market share. The company had ranked second a year ago, and its seasonal revenues declined 33%. While most major distributors experienced box office declines, Sony, Fox and Lionsgate bucked the trend, in part due to weak showings a year earlier.

Commentators have focused on weak product, especially in the past month, as a reason for the downturn and viewed the situation as an anomaly. But what if it’s a trend?

There was a similar rush to judgment back at the start of the twenty-first century when the core audience shifted abruptly from being under 25. Most releases today rely on audiences between 24 and 35. All indications are that rather than younger viewers coming to replace current regular moviegoers, the folk with the strongest film habit are consistent and, obviously, aging.

The existential question facing the industry is: will the next generation of moviegoers be imbued with the habit that’s fueled the most popular form of entertainment outside the home since the 1920s? There’s scant indication that the studios and major players are addressing the issue in organized, meaningful fashion.

A senior studio executive recently expressed awareness, saying, “We have to make more popular movies.” Apart from the obviousness, the response sidesteps the trend toward viewing films on alternate platforms that don’t provide the full experience of seeing a motion picture with strangers in a darkened auditorium. What’s the incentive for a filmmaker to create an entertainment for the big screen if most viewers wind up seeing it on diminished screens?

The gravity of the situation demands an industry initiative equivalent to the Manhattan Project. Future filmgoers have to experience the movies in a suitable environment at a young age and there ought to be school programs financed by the motion picture business that educate students about the art, craft and fun of this unique, extraordinary experience.

Title Distributor Gross (average) % change * Theaters Cume
The Hitman’s Bodyguard Lionsgate/VVS 13.4 (3,970) 3% 3370 58.1 13.4
Annabelle: Creation WB 9.3 (2,770) -2% 3358 91 9.3
Wind River Weinstein/VVS 8.0 (3,090) 35% 2602 20.5 8
Leap! Weinstein Co. 6.6 (2,430) 3% 2705 13.1 6.6
Dunkirk WB 5.7 (2,070) 11% 2752 180.3 5.7
Logan Lucky Bleecker/eOne 5.6 (1,880) 4% 2975 22.1 5.6
Spider-Man: Homecoming Sony 4.8 (2,340) 29% 2036 325.2 4.8
The Emoji Movie Sony 3.4 (1,600) -3% 2108 81.3 3.4
Despicable Me 3 Uni 3.3 (1,540) 40% 2132 258.9 3.3
The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature Open Road/eOne 2.9 (1,090) -9% 2651 26.7 2.9
Girls Trip Uni 2.8 (1,740) -2% 1607 112.1 2.8
Wonder Woman WB 2.5 (1,370) 19% 1808 409.5 2.5
Cars 3 BV 2.4 (970) 936% 2445 151.5 2.4
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (reissue) Sony 2.3 (2,520) 901 2.3 2.3
Birth of the Dragon High Top 2.2 (1,360) -36% 1633 5.9 2.2
Kidnap Aviron/eOne 2.0 (1,200) 5% 1689 29.8 2
The Dark Tower Sony 2.0 (1,090) -8% 1820 47.8 2
The Big Sick Lionsgate/Elevation 1.9 (1,460) 97% 1270 41.4 1.9
Baby Driver Sony 1.9 (1,270) 21% 1463 105.9 1.9
The Glass Castle Lionsgate 1.8 (1,340) 2% 1360 15.2 1.8
All Saints Sony 1.6 (1,860) -20% 846 2.19 1.6
Hazlo Como Hombre Lionsgate 1.5 (3,900) NEW 382 1.5 1.5
Tulip Fever Weinstein Co. 1.4 (1,840) NEW 765 1.4 1.4
War for the Planet of the Apes Fox 1.4 (1,370) 22% 1041 144.7 1.4
Marvel’s Inhumans Imax 1.4 (3,610) NEW 393 1.4 1.4
Atomic Blonde Focus 1.1 (1,490) 4% 741 50.6 1.1
Ingrid Goes West Neon .75 (1,200) -23% 625 2.5 0.75
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $93.95
% Change (Last Year) -24%
% Change (Last Week) 15%
Also debuting/expanding
Good Time A24 .41 (640) -43% 635 1.7
Arjun Reddy Nirvana .36 (2,930) -62% 124 1.6
Baadshaho Grand Showbiz .34 (2,710) 126 0.34
Shubh Mangal Savdhan Eros .32 (4,040) 80 0.32
Patti Cake$ Fox Searchlight .32 (1,090) 146% 295 0.61
The Trip to Spain eOne/IFC .31 (2,160) 77% 143 0.8
Detroit Annapurna/eOne .25 (750) -20% 331 16.6
Menashe A24 .24 (1,930) 24% 126 1.3
Terminator 2: Judgment Day 3D (reissue) Distrib Films .22 (770) -67% 288 0.97
I Do … Until I Don’t Film Arcade .20 (1,230) 165 0.2
De Pere en Flic 2 Seville .19 (3,160) 74% 61 5.5
Punjab Nahi Jaungi B4U .15 (4,080) 36 0.15
A Taxi Driver Well Go .14 (4,580) -18% 31 1.4
Viceroy’s House IFC .14 (4,150) 34 0.14
Valley of Bones Smith Global .13 (450) 299 0.13
Unlocked Lionsgate 27,100 (1,590) 17 0.03
Puriyatha Puthir ATMUS 18,100 (480) 38 0.02
Dolores PBS 16,600 (16,600) 1 0.02
Goon: Last of the Enforcers Momentum 15,700 (560) 28 0.02
Get Big Pelican 11,800 (1,690) 7 0.01
The Teacher Film Movement 11,500 (5,750) 2 0.01
The Layover Vertical 10,600 (410) 26 0.01
The Vault FilmRise 5,400 (490) 11 0.01
Domestic Market Share (January 2 – August 31, 2017)
Distributor (releases) Box Office Market Share
Buena Vista (8) 1377.5 18.40%
Universal (12) 1313.6 17.60%
Warner Bros. (18) 1240.9 16.60%
20th Century Fox (19) 983.1 13.20%
Sony (15) 747.8 10.00%
Lionsgate (16) 536.1 7.20%
Paramount (13) 387.3 5.20%
Focus (13) 112.2 1.50%
STX (6) 85.3 1.10%
Weinstein Co. (6) 81.5 1.10%
Open Road (6) 62.8 0.80%
Entertainment (2) 46.9 0.65%
Fox Searchlight (8) 43.9 0.65%
A24 (9) 40.6 0.50%
Bleecker Street (5) 38.5 0.50%
Other * (246) 373 5.00%
7471 100%
* none greater than 0.4%
Top Global Grossers (January 2 – August 31, 2017)
Title Distributor Box Office
Beauty and the Beast BV 1,272,169,904
The Fate of the Furious Uni 1,235,919,777
Despicable Me 3 Uni 981,174,223
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 BV 862,197,379
Wolf Warrior II Bona Intl; Well Go 847,054,156
Wonder Woman WB 810,304,764
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales BV 791,987,399
Spider-Man: Homecoming Sony 739,534,389
Logan Fox 618,314,994
Kong: Skull Island WB 564,663,975
Transformers: The Last Knight Par 602,982,988
The Boss Baby Fox; DmWks 498,798,575
Dunkirk WB 415,147,209
The Mummy Uni 408,756,500
La La Land * Lionsgate 384,729,036
Fifty Shades Darker Uni 380,816,746
Sing * Uni 369,492,462
War for the Planet of the Apes Fox 359,577,122
xXx: Return of Xander Cage Par 344,515,124
The Great Wall Uni; China Film 334,181,954
Cars 3 BV 330,463,610
The Lego Batman Movie WB 314,542,428
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter Sony; Constantin 313,832,890
Split Uni 278,051,216
Kung Fu Yoga Well Go; Golden Network 274,332,509
* does not include 2016 box office
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Leonard Klady's Friday Estimates
Friday Screens % Chg Cume
Title Gross Thtr % Chgn Cume
Venom 33 4250 NEW 33
A Star is Born 15.7 3686 NEW 15.7
Smallfoot 3.5 4131 -46% 31.3
Night School 3.5 3019 -63% 37.9
The House Wirh a Clock in its Walls 1.8 3463 -43% 49.5
A Simple Favor 1 2408 -50% 46.6
The Nun 0.75 2264 -52% 111.5
Hell Fest 0.6 2297 -70% 7.4
Crazy Rich Asians 0.6 1466 -51% 167.6
The Predator 0.25 1643 -77% 49.3
Also Debuting
The Hate U Give 0.17 36
Shine 85,600 609
Exes Baggage 75,900 62
NOTA 71,300 138
96 61,600 62
Andhadhun 55,000 54
Afsar 45,400 33
Project Gutenberg 36,000 17
Love Yatri 22,300 41
Hello, Mrs. Money 22,200 37
Studio 54 5,300 1
Loving Pablo 4,200 15
3-Day Estimates Weekend % Chg Cume
No Good Dead 24.4 (11,230) NEW 24.4
Dolphin Tale 2 16.6 (4,540) NEW 16.6
Guardians of the Galaxy 7.9 (2,550) -23% 305.8
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4.8 (1,630) -26% 181.1
The Drop 4.4 (5,480) NEW 4.4
Let's Be Cops 4.3 (1,570) -22% 73
If I Stay 4.0 (1,320) -28% 44.9
The November Man 2.8 (1,030) -36% 22.5
The Giver 2.5 (1,120) -26% 41.2
The Hundred-Foot Journey 2.5 (1,270) -21% 49.4