By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
Movies with Bite
Super shark The Meg tore through the competition to take the weekend box office crown with an estimated 44.4 million. The session saw two other films debut in wide release and a third launch a bit less wide. The urban legend horror yarn Slender Man slotted fourth overall with $11.2 million while there wasn’t much woof for the rom-com Dog Days that unleashed $2.6 million.
With a more concentrated launch BlacKkKlansman had an excellent start o $10.8 million.
In the niches Indian imports again failed to produce a big winner with Vishwaroopam 2 grossing $307,000 and Srinivasa Kalyanam with a box office of $143,000. However, in limited release the Punjabi biopic Dakuaan da Munda had a promising $133,000 start. Also strong was the Chinese The Island with a $273,000 box office from 40 screens. The ballyhooed Filipino actioner BuyBust has a tepid opener of $72,700 from 25 locations.
Revenues for the frame exceeded $145 million and rose 5% from the prior weekend. It was also a 26% improvement from 2017 when the debut of Annabelle: Creation led with $35 million and newcomer Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature was third in the lineup with $8.3 million.
What could be more summer than the King Kong of sharks and with The Meg it was Jurassic Park meets Jaws. The late season release was expected to inch ahead of Mission: Impossible – Fallout with an opening of about $25 million that appeared to be building to perhaps $30 million as it approached opening day. But this was clearly the choice of the hoi polloi that clearly would not be content with Sharknado XXI.
On the domestic front The Meg’s audience was 52% male with 68% aged 25-years and older.
The film also over-performed internationally where it grossed an estimated $97 million from 42 markets. China opened to $50 million and other top grossing nations included Mexico with $6.2 million, Russia opening with $5 million and the UK at a $4.4 million debut.
Expectations weren’t high for Slender Man in light of the competition and modest advertising push. Even a lawsuit in Texas against a similar-themed movie failed to generate much ink. It appeared to be heading toward possibly a $10 million opening that was comparable to tracking for BlacKkKlansman. Its audience was 52% male with 61% of viewers aged 25-years and younger.
Benefiting from today’s headlines the 1970s-set BlacKkKlansman was primed to be the the marketplace alternative viewing choice and largely succeeded to that end. Exit demos identified viewers as 52% female with 59% aged 35-years and older. And while it over-indexed with African Americans, its 23% share was not overwhelming. Anecdotally the film appears to be trending art house rather than ethnically.
| Weekend (estimates) August 10 – 12, 2018 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % Chng | Thtr | Cume |
| The Meg | WB | 44.4 (10,780) | NEW | 4118 | 44.4 |
| Mission: Impossible – Fallout | Par | 21.1 (5,160) | -43% | 3888 | 162.1 |
| Christopher Robin | BV | 12.5 (3,480) | -49% | 3602 | 50.1 |
| Slender Man | Sony | 11.2 (4,760) | NEW | 2358 | 11.2 |
| BlacKKKlansman | Focus | 10.8 (7,120) | NEW | 1512 | 10.8 |
| The Spy Who Dumped Me | Lionsgate | 6.6 (2,120) | -46% | 3111 | 24.5 |
| Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again | Uni | 5.8 (2,060) | -35% | 2812 | 103.8 |
| The Equalizer 2 | Sony | 5.4 (2,270) | -38% | 2373 | 89.5 |
| Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation | Sony | 5.1 (1,970) | -36% | 2589 | 146.9 |
| Ant-Man and the Wasp | BV | 4.1 (2,180) | -36% | 1863 | 203.5 |
| Incredibles 2 | BV | 3.4 (2,210) | -31% | 1545 | 589.8 |
| Dog Days | LD Entertainment | 2.6 (1,060) | NEW | 2442 | 3.6 |
| The Darkest Minds | Fox | 2.1 (660) | -65% | 3127 | 10.9 |
| Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom | Uni | 1.9 (1,570) | -50% | 1237 | 409.6 |
| Teen Titans Go! To the Movies | WB | 1.7 (1,190) | -64% | 1437 | 25.5 |
| Eighth Grade | A24 | 1.6 (1,460) | -45% | 1084 | 10.1 |
| Death of a Nation | Quality | .97 (1,180) | -59% | 825 | 4.5 |
| Three Identical Strangers | Neon/Mongrel | .69 (2,110) | -32% | 326 | 9.7 |
| Skyscraper | Uni | .64 (950) | -71% | 670 | 66.2 |
| Sorry to Bother You | Annapurna/eOne | .42 (2,050) | -48% | 204 | 15.8 |
| Won’t You Be My Neighbor? | Focus | .36 (1,560) | -29% | 229 | 21.7 |
| Vishwaroopam 2 | Magnus | .31 (1,720) | NEW | 179 | 0.42 |
| The First Purge | Uni | .28 (950) | -78% | 293 | 68.5 |
| The Island | Well Go | .27 (7,010) | NEW | 39 | 0.27 |
| Ocean’s 8 | WB | .25 (1,090) | -12% | 233 | 138.4 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $141.60 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | 26% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | 5% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Blindspotting | Lionsgate | .21 (1,540) | -68% | 138 | 3.8 |
| 1991 | Seville | .17 (2,700) | -37% | 64 | 1.7 |
| Along With the Gods: The Last 49 Days | Well Go | .17 (4,670) | -46% | 36 | 0.81 |
| Puzzle | Sony Classics | .16 (3,570) | 28% | 44 | 0.44 |
| McQueen | Bleecker Street | .15 (2,890) | -16% | 53 | 0.75 |
| Srinivasa Kalyanam | ShowTime | .14 (1,120) | 127 | 0.24 | |
| Leave No Trace | Bleecker Street | .14 (1,130) | -49% | 123 | 5.5 |
| The Miseducation of Cameron Post | FilmRise/FWL | .12 (3,290) | 151% | 37 | 0.2 |
| Dakuaan da Munda | Rising Sun | .13 (6,330) | 21 | 0.13 | |
| BuyBust | Well Go | 72,700 (2,910) | 25 | 0.07 | |
| The Spy Gone North | CJ | 33,300 (16,650) | 2 | 0.03 | |
| Dans la brume | Seville | 19,200 (1,600) | 12 | 0.02 | |
| Madeline’s Madeline | Oscilloscope | 18,400 (18,400) | 1 | 0.02 | |
| Skate Kitchen | Magnolia | 15,900 (15,900) | 1 | 0.02 | |
| A Prayer Before Dawn | A24 | 14,300 (1,100) | 13 | 0.01 | |
| Cielo | Second Sight | 10,500 (3,500) | 3 | 0.01 | |
| Larguees | A-Z Films | 7,700 (700) | 11 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (January 2 – August 9, 2018) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Box Office (millions) | Market Share | |||
| Buena Vista (10) | 2644.9 | 34.60% | |||
| Universal (13) | 1047.9 | 13.70% | |||
| Warner Bros. (21) | 772.7 | 10.10% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (11) | 711.7 | 9.30% | |||
| Sony (16) | 689.8 | 9.00% | |||
| Paramount (8) | 488.2 | 6.40% | |||
| Lionsgate (12) | 221.9 | 2.90% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (4) | 139.7 | 1.80% | |||
| STX (6) | 138.8 | 1.80% | |||
| Focus (9) | 116.7 | 1.50% | |||
| Roadside Attractions (6) | 102.1 | 1.40% | |||
| A24 (8) | 72.5 | 1.00% | |||
| Entertainment (3) | 51.7 | 0.70% | |||
| MGM (2) | 37.1 | 0.50% | |||
| Other * (261) | 402.3 | 5.30% | |||
| 7638 | 100% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.45% | |||||
| Top Global Grossers (January 2 – August 9, 2018) | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Box Office | |||
| Avenger Infinity War | BV | 2,044,387,260 | |||
| Black Panther | BV | 1,346,337,705 | |||
| Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom | Uni | 1,267,049,796 | |||
| Incredibles 2 | BV | 1,070,098,839 | |||
| Deadpool 2 | Fox | 733,111,911 | |||
| Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle * | Sony | 619,242,214 | |||
| Operation Red Sea | Bona; Well Go | 584,005,699 | |||
| Ready Player One | WB | 581,327,073 | |||
| Detective Chinatown 2 | Wanda; WB | 542,745,147 | |||
| Dying to Survive | Alibaba | 451,871,800 | |||
| Ant-Man and the Wasp | BV | 440,303,470 | |||
| Rampage | WB | 425,870,608 | |||
| Solo: A Star Wars Story | BV | 391,504,686 | |||
| Mission: Impossible – Fallout | Par | 380,043,416 | |||
| Fifty Shades Freed | Uni | 371,476,815 | |||
| Monster Hunt 2 | Edko; Lionsgate | 361,925,606 | |||
| Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation | Sony | 352,517,375 | |||
| Peter Rabbit | Sony | 350,387,332 | |||
| The Greatest Showman * | Fox | 345,299,566 | |||
| A Quiet Place | Par | 333,454,022 | |||
| Pacific Rim Uprising | Uni; Legendary | 290,659,971 | |||
| Maze Runner: The Death Cure | Fox | 288,142,892 | |||
| Skyscraper | Uni | 280,710,875 | |||
| Star Wars: The Last Jedi * | BV | 278,351,455 | |||
| * does not include 2017 box office | |||||
