Weekend Box Office (July 27 - 29, 2018)

by Gitesh Pandya

THIS WEEKEND The parade of summer action sequels does not stop. This time it's Tom Cruise's turn in the driver's seat as the veteran Hollywood star unleashes Mission: Impossible - Fallout, the sixth installment of the 22-year-old spy franchise. The PG-13 film brings back the director and much of the cast of the last MI pic Rogue Nation which also opened right at the end of July when it bowed to $55.5M on its way to $195M domestic and $680M worldwide. Muscular numbers that, of course, warrant another chapter.

Paramount and the film team are putting in overtime to promote the death-defying stunts in Fallout in order to counter those who are not sure if they really need to see Ethan Hunt for the sixth time saving the world. Another method is to deliver a rock solid product and in that regard, the mission was accomplished. Reviews are outstanding across the board which will make a difference with the mature crowd likely to come out. After all, Cruise is now the exact same age that Jon Voight was when he shot the first Mission: Impossible playing the team leader.

After a summer filled with super heroes and dinosaurs, audiences will find it refreshing to enjoy a thrill ride that relies on real stunts and not special effects during every scene. The second half of summer has often been used for these types of action offerings, as evidenced by the better than expected opening of Equalizer 2 last weekend. Fallout has been tracking very well and opening north of Rogue Nation is very possible. The new Mission opens in 4,386 theaters and could capture about $66M this weekend. Look for strong word-of-mouth to take it through August as well.

When studios have high profile summer toons they slot them in during the front half of summer - early May through early July. But fun films are needed all year long and Warners is hoping to score a little hit with its Teen Titans Go! To The Movies with the popular television series jumping to the big screen. Certainly kids who watch the super hero show are the primary target audience, but the broader comic book movie crowd is also in play here.

Reviews have been overwhelmingly positive which should help broaden the audience. The clever send-up of the comics biz, being an equal opportunity offender with digs at both Marvel and DC, should help the PG-rated pic connect with genre fans looking for a laugh during a year utterly dominated by super hero movies. Launching in 3,188 theaters, Teen Titans may open to around $24M this weekend.

A slim $1M margin separated last weekend's two new sequel openers with Denzel Washington's Equalizer 2 edging it out for first place. New competition from another major 55+ action hero will be a factor so a 50% decline to around $18M may result. That would give Sony around $69M after ten days.

While Denzel won the weekend, it's Meryl who will win the full week as Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again is heading to a seven-day gross that will be about $4M bigger. But as a sequel with a built-in audience, the Universal release may also lose half of its audience so a weekend take of about $17M could occur. The total would rise to $72M.

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LAST YEAR In a rare case of an original film staying atop the summer box office over back to back weeks, Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk held its position at number one with $26.6M in its sophomore session. Despite terrible reviews, The Emoji Movie debuted well and almost scored a top spot debut with $24.5M on its way to $86.1M for Sony. The sleeper comedy hit Girls Trip followed with $19.6M in its second weekend and Charlize Theron's gritty actioner Atomic Blonde opened in fourth with $18.3M. Focus found its way to $51.7M. Spider-Man: Homecoming rounded out the top five with $13.3M.

LAST WEEKEND'S TOP 20

Last Updated: July 26, 2018 at 2:45PM ET

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