‘Night School’ Is Head of the Box Office Class With $28 Million Opening
A $28 million opening weekend may not seem like a big achievement at the box office, but for a comedy like Universal’s “Night School,” it’s definitely a win. At a time when only a precious few comedies have found success at the box office, “Night School” has posted the best opening for the genre this year, beating the $20.6 million start for fellow Universal release “Blockers.”
Released on 3,091 screens, the Kevin Hart/Tiffany Haddish film is only a few paces behind the $31 million opening for “Girls Trip,” the previous collaboration between Haddish, director Malcolm D. Lee and producer Will Packer. With a budget of $29 million and a CinemaScore grade of A-, the film is in position to turn a solid profit. Next week it will face steep competition in the form of Sony’s Marvel film “Venom” and Warner Bros.’ awards contender “A Star Is Born.”
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Warner Bros.’ animated film “Smallfoot” was in second this weekend, meeting tracker expectations by opening to $23 million from 4,131 locations. This is a slightly higher start than the two previous September releases from Warner Animation Group, “Storks” ($21.3 million) and “The Lego Ninjago Movie” ($20.4 million).
In third is Universal’s “The House With a Clock in Its Walls,” earning $12.5 million in its second weekend for a decent drop-off of 53 percent and a 10-day total of $44.7 million. Lionsgate’s “A Simple Favor” is in fourth with $6.5 million in its third weekend, pushing its domestic total to $43 million.
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Two horror films are in a narrow race for the last spot in the top five: WB/New Line’s “The Nun” and Lionsgate/CBS Films’ “Hell Fest.” “The Nun” is in the lead with $5.4 million, pushing its total to $109 million after four weekends.
“Hell Fest,” which opens this weekend, has hit the lower end of tracker projections with $5 million, though it has not been received well, with a 33 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and a C on CinemaScore. With the highly anticipated return of Michael Myers and “Halloween” next month, it’s not likely that “Hell Fest” will have much of a footprint this Halloween season, but the studios have already made their money back with a $5.5 million co-financed budget.
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