In first place, at the box office, we find not Hobbs & Shaw or Angry Birds 2 but the foul-mouthed yet enduring kids of Good Boys. The well-received comedy debuted above expectations and manages to stand out during the slow month of August.
Good Boys grossed $21.4 million to finish first at the box office. Just to show you how hard comedy has had it at the box office, this is the best pure comedic opening (not counting sub-genres like romantic comedies) since the $20.5 million debut of Blockers last April. Good Boys had solid marketing and good reviews on its side (78% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and now it’s on its way to being a sleeper hit for Universal. Good Boys cost $20 million to make and with a “B+” CinemaScore, decent legs should be in store for the film. Btw, Good Boys is only the third original film of the year to debut at number one after Jordan Peele’s Us & The Curse of La Llorona which further goes to show how crowded the market is with sequels, remakes, and other familiar brands.
Hobbs & Shaw falls to second with $14.1 million. The film was down 43.9% which was a much better hold than it saw in its second weekend. The domestic total now stands at $133.7 million & internationally, the film added another $45.7 million, including a franchise-record, $15 million debut in South Korea. Overall the film has now grossed over $303 million overseas for a worldwide gross totaling $437 million. China is waiting in the wings this weekend and it should have a big debut there due to the popularity of the Fast franchise in that market.
In third, we have The Lion King with $12.3 million. The film slips 39% which is one of its better holds since its massive opening 5 weeks ago. The film has a domestic total of $496.5 million and internationally it added another $33.8 million this weekend for an overseas total that now stands at $939.1 million and a $1.435 billion global tally.
Angry Birds 2 debuts in a disappointing fourth place with $10.3 million. Angry Birds 2 got its release off to an early start last Tuesday and has grossed $16 million since that launch. This is well off the opening of the first film which saw a more impressive $38 million start. I think the main issue is that while the first film was moderately successful, no one was really asking for a second one. The sequel did muster up a “B+” CinemaScore but I don’t think the film will have much life in it moving forward.
Rounding out the top five is Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark with $10 million. The film dropped an expected 52.1% and now has a domestic total of $40.1 million. The film carries a $25 million budget and it should manage to top out at $55-60 million so I wouldn’t be surprised if we got another one of these in the future.
Check out the full top ten results below:
| Film | Total | % Change | Gross to Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onward | $10,601,952 | -72.9% | $60.3 |
| Bloodshot | $9,176,695 | NEW | $9.17 |
| I Still Believe | $9,103,614 | NEW | $9.10 |
| The Invisible Man | $5,890,805 | -61.1% | $64.3 |
| The Hunt | $5,304,455 | NEW | $5.3 |
| Sonic the Hedgehog | $2,522,584 | -67.3% | $145.7 |
| The Way Back | $2,356,115 | -71.2% | $13.3 |
| The Call of the Wild | $2,226,720 | -67.1% | $62 |
| Emma. | $1,295,215 | -73% | $9.9 |
| Bad Boys for Life | $1,102,208 | -63.5% | $204.2 |
