By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
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The debut of The House With a Clock in its Walls ticked in with an estimated $26.8 million to take the weekend box office crown. Three other films opened nationally with dull to dire results. The doc Fahrenheit 11/9 bowed to a passable $3.1 million but it was curtains for the romantic pastiche Life Itself that grossed $2.1 million and the action comedy Assassination Nation that struggled to $1 million.
In the niches new Indian releases included a potent $380,000 start for the Punjabi Qismat and a just OK $153,000 start for the Hindi Batti Gul Meter Chalu. There were good launches for the Filipino comedy Miss Granny of $132,000 and the Chinese actioner The Great Battle with $114,000. The doc Love, Gilda had a tepid launch of $154,000.
Exclusive newcomers saw two potent titles that included a $123,000 tally for the skewered western The Sisters Brothers at four sites and a $154,000 for the biopic Colette.
Revenues for the session approached $93 million and slid back 14% from the prior weekend. It was a more severe 23% erosion from 2017 when the opening of Kingsman: The Golden Circle led with $39 million and the debut of The Lego Ninjago Movie grossed $20.4 million.
A clever emphasis on audacity appeared to elevate The House With a Clock in its Walls that was tracking to debut to $20 million to $22 million. Its audience was 52% male with 78% aged 25-years and younger. Families accounted for 53% of ticket sales.
The film also dipped its toe into international waters with an estimated $8.7 million box office from 22 territories. The UK dominated with a $4.3 million tally.
The trio of other new releases all seriously under-performed pundit’s predictions. Fahrenheit 11/9 was expected to debut to $5 million to $6 million, Life Itself was pegged at $4 million to $5 million and Assassination Nation was given a $2 million to $3 million debut.
Weekend (estimates) September 21 – 23, 2018 | |||||
Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % Chng | Thtr | Cume |
The House With a Clock in its Walls | Uni | 26.8 (7,470) | NEW | 3592 | 26.8 |
A Simple Favor | Lionsgate | 10.3 (3,330) | -36% | 3102 | 32.5 |
The Nun | WB | 10.1 (2,720) | -45% | 3707 | 100.7 |
The Predator | Fox | 8.6 (2,120) | -65% | 4070 | 40.4 |
Crazy Rich Asians | WB | 6.5 (2,310) | -26% | 2802 | 159.4 |
White Boy Rick | Sony | 5.0 (1,980) | -44% | 2504 | 17.4 |
Peppermint | STX/Elevation | 3.7 (1,380) | -38% | 2680 | 30.3 |
Fahrenheit 11/9 | Briarcliff | 3.1 (1,790) | NEW | 1719 | 3.1 |
The Meg | WB | 2.3 (1,170) | -39% | 2003 | 140.5 |
Searching | Sony | 2.2 (1,330) | -49% | 1787 | 23.1 |
Life Itself | Amazon | 2.1 (790) | NEW | 2609 | 2.1 |
Unbroken: Path to Redemption | Pure Flix | 1.3 (900) | -40% | 1484 | 4.6 |
Mission: Impossible – Fallout | Par | 1.2 (1,340) | -49% | 871 | 218.1 |
Christopher Robin | BV | 1.1 (850) | -50% | 1252 | 96.9 |
Assassination Nation | NEON | 1.0 (710) | NEW | 1403 | 1 |
The Wife | Sony Classics | .93 (1.980) | -18% | 468 | 4.9 |
BlacKKKlansman | Focus | .65 (1,430) | -49% | 454 | 47.1 |
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation | Sony | .59 (1,140) | -24% | 518 | 166.1 |
Incredibles 2 | BV | .53 (1,060) | -28% | 500 | 606.3 |
Alpha | Sony | .40 (730) | -63% | 544 | 35.2 |
Qismat | White Hill | .38 (7,660) | NEW | 50 | 0.38 |
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again | Uni | .36 (1,2400 | 3% | 292 | 120.3 |
Operation Finale | MGM | .34 (660) | -70% | 525 | 17.2 |
Ant-Man and the Wasp | BV | .27 (1,030) | -31% | 260 | 215.8 |
Lizzie | Roadside Attractions | .26 (1,070) | 438% | 240 | 0.33 |
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $88.00 | ||||
% Change (Last Year) | -23% | ||||
% Change (Last Week) | -14% | ||||
Also debuting/expanding | |||||
Colette | Bleecker Street | .16 (39,520) | 4 | 0.16 | |
Love, Gilda | Magnolia | .15 (2,370) | 65 | 0.15 | |
Batti Gul Meter Chalu | Eros | .15 (2,390) | 64 | 0.15 | |
The Hows of Us | ABS | .14 (2,820) | -58% | 50 | 1.5 |
Miss Granny | Viva Intl | .13 (4,000) | 33 | 0.13 | |
The Sisters Brothers | Anapurna | ,12 (30,920) | 4 | 0.12 | |
Nannu Dochukunduvate | ShowTime | 12 (1,200) | 102 | 0.12 | |
Juliet, Naked | Roadside Attractions | ;12 (1,170) | -57% | 102 | 3.3 |
The Great Battle | Well Go | .11 (3,800) | 30 | 0.11 | |
The Children Act | eOne/A24 | .10 (1,710) | 57% | 61 | 0.2 |
Three Identical Strangers | Neon/Mongrel | 58,100 (1,0500 | -46% | 55 | 12.2 |
Les Disparition des lucioles | Seville | 51,400 (2,570) | 20 | 0.05 | |
Moses and the Ten Commandments | Swen | 47,200 (830) | 57 | 0.05 | |
Sammy 2 | Southern Star | 46,900 (980) | 48 | 0.05 | |
Museo | Vitagraph | 22,800 (3,260) | -13% | 7 | 0.06 |
The Negotiation | CJ | 14,600 (7,300) | 2 | 0.01 | |
Tea With the Dames | IFC | 14,300 (14,300) | 1 | 0.01 | |
Top Domestic Grossers (January 2 – September 20, 2018) | |||||
Title | Distributor | Box Office | |||
Black Panther | BV | 700,059,566 | |||
Avenger Infinity War | BV | 678,788,703 | |||
Incredibles 2 | BV | 605,824,358 | |||
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom | Uni | 416,376,615 | |||
Deadpool 2 | Fox | 318,482,400 | |||
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle * | Sony | 219,290,534 | |||
Mission: Impossible – Fallout | Par | 216,974,667 | |||
Ant-Man and the Wasp | BV | 215,538,206 | |||
Solo: A Star Wars Story | BV | 213,716,869 | |||
A Quiet Place | Par | 188,071,846 | |||
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation | Sony | 165,476,985 | |||
Crazy Rich Asians | WB | 152,924,483 | |||
Ocean’s 8 | WB | 139,377,762 | |||
The Meg | WB | 138,172,919 | |||
Ready Player One | WB | 137,236,383 | |||
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again | Uni | 119,926,835 | |||
The Greatest Showman * | Fox | 119,917,641 | |||
Peter Rabbit | Sony | 115,254,425 | |||
The Equalizer 2 | Sony | 102,084,362 | |||
A Wrinkle in Time | BV | 100,478,608 | |||
* does not include 2017 box office |