Box office: ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ remains on top for a second weekend
There wasn’t much of a chance that any of the new movies would give Tim Burton and Michael Keaton‘s reunion for “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” a run for the top spot. Read on for the weekend box office report.
Sure enough, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” was the number-one movie for a second weekend in a row with $51.6 million, down 54% from its opening weekend, bringing its domestic total to $188 million in North America. Overseas, it added another $28.7 million, which helped bring its international total to $76.3 million and worldwide box office to $264.3 million. We’re definitely going to have to wait to see how well this holds up against upcoming movies like “Transformers One.”
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James McAvoy starred in the Blumhouse remake of the Danish horror film “Speak No Evil,” which Universal released into 3,375 theaters with strong reviews, currently at 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite a strong premise, the latest Blumhouse only brought in $1.3 million in Thursday previews and $4.9 million on Friday the 13th, including those previews. Ultimately, it ended up with an estimated $11.5 million opening weekend to take second place. It managed to get a “B+” CinemaScore, which is pretty good compared to other recent horror films, but that has to be seen as a disappointing opening as horror seems to have dwindled since the last major hit, Neon’s “Longlegs.”
The Ryan Reynolds–Hugh Jackman superhero blockbuster “Deadpool and Wolverine” continued to do well with an eighth week in the top five, taking third place with $5.2 million, which is down just 26% from last weekend. It has grossed $621.5 million domestically, one of two movies this year to cross the $600 million milestone and joining the top 15 domestic blockbusters of all time.
The controversial doc “Am I Racist?,” re-teaming conservative blogger Matt Walsh with director Justin Folk, ended up doing better than anyone expected, released into 1,517 theaters by the Daily Wire. It ended up making nearly $2 million on Friday and an estimated $4.5 million over the weekend to take fourth place. It also received an “A” CInemaScore, clearly finding its target audience.
The Dennis Quaid biopic “Reagan” dropped to fifth place with just under $3 million (down 39%), bringing its domestic take to $23.3 million, a decent showing for new distributor Showbiz Direct.
The same can’t be said about Dave Bautista‘s action-comedy “The Killer’s Game,” which Lionsgate released into 2,623 theaters on Friday, but after making just $300,000 in Thursday previews and $1 million on Friday, it ended up with an estimated $2.6 million over the weekend. That’s an average of less than $1,000 per theater, which is never great for a wide release with a major star. Reviews for the movie weren’t great either, as it ended up with just 36% on Rotten Tomatoes, though it also received a “B+” CinemaScore.
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“Alien: Romulus” took seventh place with $2.4 million, followed by Blake Lively‘s “It Ends with Us” and “The Forge,” which both made $2 million this weekend. Lively’s movie has grossed $144 million domestically, compared to the “Alien” movie, which just crossed the $100 million mark over the weekend.
What about some of the many other reported wide releases for the weekend, you might ask?
The faith-based doc “God’s Not Dead: In God We Trust” just managed to sneak into the top 10 with $1.5 million in 1,399 theaters, averaging just over $1,000 per venue.
The GKIDS anime “DAN DA DAN: First Encounter” ended up opening in just 610 theaters, and it completely missed out on the top 10 with just $1 million.
Similarly, the Ian McKellen period drama “The Critic” opened in 556 theaters, but it ended up making just $200,000 over the weekend.
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Megan Park‘s comedy “My Old Ass,” starring Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza, received only a platform release into seven theaters by Amazon MGM. It still brought in $171,743, a pretty decent start for the studio’s plan to expand it nationwide by the end of September.
UPDATE: “Usher: Rendezvous in Paris” only opened in 700 theaters total and only earned $700k over the weekend, while Kevin Smith‘s “The 4:30 Movie” made $115k in 245 theaters, which also isn’t very good. For whatever reason, these weekends with too many movies getting wide releases seem to be happening more and more.
There are a few potential spoilers in this weekend’s box office prediction game, but the four players that picked “Am I Racist?” to take fourth place are likely to be the big winners this weekend.
Only one player got a perfect score in the September 6 game, and that was long-time board leader “Mellow Drama” who is so far ahead of the pack in points this season that they probably can stop predicting and still win the season.
On Friday, Paramount will release the animated “Transformers One,” so you can check back on Wednesday for the weekend preview of how it might do.
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