Weekend Box Office (August 31 - September 2, 2018)
THIS WEEKEND Warner Bros. once again controlled the top two spots at the box office over the Labor Day holiday session with its pair of leggy hit crowdpleasers delivering two very different types of moviegoing fun.
Becoming only the fourth film of 2018 to enjoy three or more consecutive weekends at number one, Crazy Rich Asians easily led the marketplace as the most popular film out there this time grossing an estimated $22.2M over the Friday-to-Sunday portion of the long holiday weekend. Keeping up its great legs, the romantic comedy dipped by only 10% propelling the cume past the $100M mark reaching $111M after just 19 days.
It was the third biggest Labor Day weekend gross of all-time (Friday-to-Sunday) behind only the 2007 opening of Halloween ($26.4M) and the 1999 holdover The Sixth Sense ($22.9M). So for this time of year when moviegoing activity is not particularly strong, CRA posted amazing numbers. Its four-day holiday weekend gross may hit the $29M neighborhood. With sensational word of mouth allowing for broader appeal, the $30M-budgeted Crazy looks on course to reach about $175M by the end of its domestic run, although going higher is possible too.
Shark attacks were still popular as Jason Statham took second with The Meg which dropped only 18% in its fourth frame to an estimated $10.5M. The domestic cume rose to $120.5M which is only second best in the world as the creature feature has amassed an impressive $150.9M in China to date. Meg's international total is now $342.3M, global sits at $462.8M, and the half-billion mark should be crushed in another week making for one of this summer's biggest surprises.
For the sixth consecutive weekend, Mission: Impossible - Fallout remained in the top five thanks to strong legs. The Tom Cruise smash took in another $7M, according to estimates, allowing the Paramount release to climb up one spot to third place. Off only 13% from last weekend, MI6 became the third film in the franchise to crack the $200M mark and has climbed to $204.3M through Sunday. It's Cruise's fourth trip to the double century club after War of the Worlds and the second and fourth MI pics. Fallout has a shot at finishing with about $220M making it the top-grossing Mission film yet in the 22-year history of the lucrative spy franchise.
Like The Meg and many other recent action movies, Fallout opened bigger in China than it did in the US market. It generated a huge $77.3M debut there this weeeknd leading the overall international weekend to deliver $89.1M pushing the offshore tally to a massive $442.7M and the global haul to $647M. If Mission: Impossible - Fallout can keep its momentum going through September, it might be able to reach the $800M milestone - easily the best for any Mission film.
The WWII story Operation Finale opened in fourth place this weekend with an estimated $6M over three days for a soft $3,300 average from 1,818 locations. The MGM title collected $7.7M since its Wednesday launch and did not generate much moviegoer excitement. Reviews were generally positive for the Oscar Isaac-Ben Kingsley starrer, but critics did not find it to be an exceptional can't-miss film.
Opening in one third fewer screens and posting the second best average in the top ten was the kidnapping thriller Searching which expanded nationwide and grossed an estimated $5.7M from 1,207 theaters for a $4,722 average. Reviews were outstanding for this PG-13 pic which gained heat out of Sundance earlier this year. Sony distributed.
Disney's Winnie the Pooh story Christopher Robin continued to be a popular choice with families grossing an estimated $5M in its fifth weekend slipping just 20%. The PG-rated hit has banked $85.4M to date in North America, $131.3M globally, and has many key overseas markets still to come. Sony's Alpha followed with an estimated $4.5M, down 26%, for $27.4M overall.
After a poor opening, the raunchy buddy cop comedy The Happytime Murders collapsed in its sophomore outing plunging 54% to an estimated $4.4M giving STX the worst decline in the top ten. Cume is just $17M. Focus saw Spike Lee earn the third highest grossing film of his career with BlacKkKlansman which dipped 19% to an estimated $4.1M with $38.3M to date. Rounding out the top ten was the action title Mile 22 with an estimated $3.6M, down 44%, and $31.8M overall for STX.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $73.1M over the Friday-to-Sunday period which was up 50% from last year's Labor Day weekend when The Hitman's Bodyguard stayed at number one with $10.5M; and up 9% from 2016's holiday when Don't Breathe remained in the top spot with $15.8M.
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Be sure to check back on Thursday for a complete summary, including projections, for next weekend when The Nun, Peppermint, and God Bless the Broken Road all open.
| # | Title | Aug 31 - Sep 2 | Aug 24 - 26 | % Chg. | Theaters | Weeks | AVG | Cumulative | Distributor |
| 1 | Crazy Rich Asians | $ 21,964,345 | $ 24,808,202 | -11.5 | 3,865 | 3 | $ 5,683 | $ 110,691,733 | Warner Bros. |
| 2 | The Meg | 10,535,459 | 12,812,615 | -17.8 | 3,761 | 4 | 2,801 | 120,521,875 | Warner Bros. |
| 3 | Mission: Impossible - Fallout | 7,032,499 | 8,087,385 | -13.0 | 2,639 | 6 | 2,665 | 204,379,028 | Paramount |
| 4 | Searching | 6,066,463 | 388,769 | 1,207 | 2 | 5,026 | 6,574,943 | Sony | |
| 5 | Operation Finale | 6,022,758 | 1,818 | 1 | 3,313 | 7,749,853 | MGM | ||
| 6 | Christopher Robin | 5,277,955 | 6,261,783 | -15.7 | 2,925 | 5 | 1,804 | 85,686,823 | Disney |
| 7 | Alpha | 4,548,627 | 6,002,359 | -24.2 | 2,881 | 3 | 1,579 | 27,470,847 | Sony |
| 8 | The Happytime Murders | 4,382,781 | 9,532,425 | -54.0 | 3,256 | 2 | 1,346 | 16,998,475 | STX |
| 9 | BlacKkKlansman | 4,202,080 | 5,098,405 | -17.6 | 1,766 | 4 | 2,379 | 38,394,905 | Focus |
| 10 | Mile 22 | 3,765,869 | 6,366,042 | -40.8 | 2,950 | 3 | 1,277 | 31,952,203 | STX |
| 11 | Incredibles 2 | 3,372,388 | 1,642,506 | 105.3 | 2,890 | 12 | 1,167 | 601,233,301 | Disney |
| 12 | Kin | 3,035,618 | 2,141 | 1 | 1,418 | 3,035,618 | Lionsgate | ||
| 13 | Hotel Transylvania 3 | 2,121,431 | 2,541,668 | -16.5 | 1,421 | 8 | 1,493 | 162,022,437 | Sony |
| 14 | Slender Man | 1,816,414 | 2,790,564 | -34.9 | 1,534 | 4 | 1,184 | 28,176,223 | Sony |
| 15 | Ya Veremos | 1,803,848 | 369 | 1 | 4,888 | 1,803,848 | Lionsgate | ||
| 16 | Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom | 1,531,890 | 741,610 | 106.6 | 1,556 | 11 | 985 | 414,817,030 | Universal |
| 17 | Equalizer 2 | 1,459,816 | 2,032,245 | -28.2 | 1,476 | 7 | 989 | 100,361,178 | Sony |
| 18 | Ant-Man and the Wasp | 1,401,414 | 1,791,836 | -21.8 | 830 | 9 | 1,688 | 213,561,872 | Disney |
| 19 | A.X.L. | 1,356,690 | 2,782,017 | -51.2 | 1,710 | 2 | 793 | 5,141,625 | Global Road |
| 20 | Mamma Mia 2 | 1,253,505 | 2,000,880 | -37.4 | 1,010 | 7 | 1,241 | 117,701,625 | Universal |
| Top 5 | $ 51,621,524 | $ 61,606,669 | -16.2 | ||||||
| Top 10 | 73,798,836 | 84,541,797 | -12.7 | ||||||
| Top 20 | 92,951,850 | 98,419,938 | -5.6 | ||||||
| Top 20 vs. 2017 | 92,951,850 | 65,856,173 | 41.1 |
This column is updated three times each week: Thursday (upcoming weekend's summary), Sunday (post-weekend analysis with estimates), and Monday night (actuals). Opinions expressed in this column are those solely of the author.
Last Updated: September 2, 2018 at 3:40PM ET
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