Box office: ‘Transformers One’ fails to keep ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ from winning its 3rd weekend
Anyone who follows the box office regularly knows that sometimes, things don’t go exactly as planned or predicted, and that’s what happened this weekend. Read on for the weekend box office report.
It was thought that Paramount Pictures’ “Transformers One,” the first fully animated “Transformers” feature film since 1986, would do well enough opening weekend to potentially best “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” in its third weekend, but things ended up being much closer than expected.
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As of this writing and based on Sunday estimates, it’s a close race between the two movies but “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is estimated to win its third weekend with $26 million, down 49% but still remaining in first place, having just crossed the $200 million mark on Thursday. Including this weekend, the Tim Burton–Michael Keaton sequel has grossed $226.8 million domestically.
SEE 2024 box office hits: Every movie that made more than $100 million
Reviews for “Transformers One” were fantastic with 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, but it only ended up making $3.36 million in Thursday and earlier previews, Although it won Friday with $9.6 million (including those previews), it fell short of winning the weekend with an estimated $25 million in 3,978 theaters to open in second place. Audiences loved the movie as well, giving it an “A” CinemaScore, and it’s “Verified Hot” on Rotten Tomatoes with 98% approval from audiences. Overseas, “Transformers One” made $14 million for a worldwide opening of $39 million.
The James McAvoy horror remake “Speak No Evil” took third place with $5.9 million, down a respectable 49% from its opening weekend with $21.5 million grossed so far.
The Halle Berry horror movie “Never Let Go” looks to be yet another Lionsgate disappointment, though it came into the weekend with better reviews than some of the studio’s other recent movies with 65% on Rotten Tomatoes. It only made $360,000 in Thursday previews, but picked up business on Friday with $1.6 million (including previews) and took fourth place with an estimated $4.5 million in 2,667 theaters. It received a “C+” CinemaScore, as audiences didn’t like it as much as critics.
“Deadpool and Wolverine” was able to hang onto the Top 5 for its ninth week with another $3.9 million, down just 25% from last weekend, as it has amassed $627.3 million domestically over those nine weeks. It addend another $3.4 million overseas for a $1.32 billion worldwide total.
Demi Moore has made a triumphant return to theaters with her starring role in Coralie Fargeat‘s “The Substance,” co-starring Margaret Qualley. It was released by streamer Mubi into 1,949 theaters on Friday after receiving acclaim from its Cannes Film Festival debut, racking up 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. After making $512,000 in previews on Wednesday and Thursday, the movie is estimated to make $3.1 million over the weekend to take sixth place with an okay “B” CinemaScore, better than most of the year’s other outrageous genre films. (The summer’s massive horror hit, “Longlegs,” received a “C+” same as “Never Let Go.”)
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The controversial Matt Walsh doc “Am I Racist?” dropped to seventh place (from fourth) with $2.5 million (down 44%) for a domestic total of $9 million.
That was followed in eighth place by Dennis Quaid in the biopic “Reagan,” with $1.9 million (down 33%) for a domestic total of $26.8 million, a great showing for new distributor, ShowBiz Direct.
Breaking into the Top 10 was the documentary “Jung Kook: I Am Still,” about the popular BTS singer, which was released by Trafalgar Releasing into 769 theaters on Wednesday, making $1.4 million over the weekend for a five-day total of $2.6 million.
Amazon MGM expanded Megan Park‘s “My Old Ass” into 33 locations on Friday, where it made another $282k for a domestic total of $512k, ahead of its nationwide expansion into 1,200 theaters next weekend.
A24 opened Aaron Schimberg‘s quirky comedy “A Different Man,” starring Sebastian Stan, into four theaters in New York and L.A., where it made $56,126, averaging $14,000 per location.
39 players in this week’s box office prediction game held their ground by keeping “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” as their pick to win the weekend, with 26 players predicting “Transformers One” to open in second place. Players seemed split between whether “Never Let Go” or “Speak No Evil” would take third and fourth places.
Not a single player in the Sept. 13 game received a perfect score, but of the seven players that scored five-out-of-six, “cwright55” scored the most points with 13,563.
Next Friday, there’s a new movie from DreamWorks Animation with “The Wild Robot” and assorted other things. Check out the weekend preview on Wednesday morning.
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