The summer movie season is coming to a close & the weekend box office is a huge sign of this very fact.
Sony’s release of The Dark Tower, a long-awaited adaptation of the Stephen King sci-fi/fantasy series, delivered an estimated $19.5 million from 3,451 locations to finish at number one for the weekend. It’s the second largest debut of a Stephen King adaptation (behind the $20.4 million debut of 1408) but the good news ends there. It was tracking as high as $25 million but came in below expectations. Its $60 million budget is modest but I don’t think it will have the legs to recoup that amount stateside. Internationally, The Dark Tower opened in 19 markets, bringing in an estimated $8 million, of which $4.1 million came in from Russia. Looking ahead, the film opens in France, Germany and Italy next weekend followed by releases in Australia, UK, Spain, Korea, Brazil and Mexico later this month. We’ll have to wait & see if international box office can make the film break even.
Dropping to second is Dunkirk with $17.6 million. The film dropped only 34% in its third weekend in release for a domestic tally just shy of $135 million. Internationally, Dunkirk delivered an estimated $25 million from 63 markets bringing its overseas gross to $180.6 million for a global tally that now stands at $314.2 million. Looking ahead, the film opens in Italy at the end of August followed by early September releases in China and Japan.
The Emoji Movie falls to third with $12.3 million. The film dropped around 50% in its second weekend for a domestic gross just shy of $50 million in ten days. Internationally, after opening in just Kenya and Israel last weekend, The Emoji Movie reached 21 markets this weekend and brought in an estimated $12 million for an overseas cume of $12.7 million. Later this month it will reach Spain, Russia and Brazil with openings in Australia in September and France in October.
Girls Trip continued its impressive run with a gross of $11.4 million. The film dropped just 42% in its third weekend with a domestic tally that now totals over $85 million. After seventeen days in release Girls Trip is pacing a fraction ahead of where Bridesmaids was at the same point in the release cycle.
And rounding out the top five is Aviron’s Kidnap. The long delayed Halle Berry-starrer delivered on the top end of box office tracking heading into the weekend, delivering an estimated $10.2 million from 2,378 locations. The film received a “B+” CinemaScore from opening day audiences and of that audience 63% were female vs. 37% male and overall, 73% were over the age of 25. Considering this was to be released 2 years ago, this has to be considered an ok start.
Finishing outside the top ten, Annapurna’s Detroit had a tough weekend. Kathryn Bigelow’s latest struggled in its nationwide expansion, pulling in an estimated $7.7 million from 3,007 theaters for a $2,411 per theater average. Expectations heading into the weekend were a performance in the low teens but it didn’t meet those expectations. The film was well reviewed & those who did see it, are praising it but I think the subject matter may be a bit too tough for the summer movie crowd.
Check out the full top ten results below:
1. The Dark Tower – $19.5 million
2. Dunkirk – $17.6 million
3. The Emoji Movie – $12.3 million
4. Girls Trip – $11.4 million
5. Kidnap – $10.2 million
6. Spider-Man:Homecoming – $8.8 million
7. Atomic Blonde – $8.2 million
8. Detroit – $7.2 million
9. War for The Planet of the Apes – $6 million
10. Despicable Me 3 – $5.2 million
