Looks like it pays off to hustle. Even though Hustlers fell to number 9 during its sixth weekend of release, the $2 million earned by the film over the weekend allowed the film to top $100 million at the domestic box office.
The $20 million film has a running total of $101.8 million after six weekends of release and it becomes STX Entertainment’s second film this year to clear the mark after The Upside ended its run with $109 million. Overall for STX Entertainment, Hustlers is their third highest-grossing release to date after Bad Moms ($113 million) and the aforementioned The Upside.
The acclaimed Lorene Scafaria crime dramedy, about a handful of New York strippers who use their wiles (and some light drugging) to con their rich clients out of copious amounts of money in the aftermath of the 2009 Wall Street crash, opened to $33.1 million when it started its box office run, becoming the biggest live-action opening of Jennifer Lopez’s career and the biggest opening for STX Entertainment. The film also stars Constance Wu, Lili Reinhart, Keke Palmer, Cardi B & Julia Stiles.
Hustlers has also earned $125 million worldwide which puts even more money in the pockets of STX Entertainment. For its star, Jennifer Lopez, it is officially her highest-grossing live-action film to date, topping the $94 million earned by Maid in Manhattan. Hustlers is now the 22nd film of 2019 to top $100 million and, sadly, only the third original IP of the year to hit the mark after Us & Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Director Lorene Scafaria becomes the second female director to helm a $100 million earner this year after Captain Marvel which was co-directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Another milestone, but sad by industry standards fact, is that Hustlers is the third biggest grosser, sans inflation, starring multiple women of color behind Girls Trip ($115 million in 2017) and Hidden Figures ($168 million in 2016/2017), although Waiting to Exhale ($67 million in 1995) sold enough tickets to have earned $137 million in 2019 dollars.
Btw, strong critical reviews (currently 88% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) have drawn a lot of comparisons to Scorsese and his style, most notably in Goodfellas and Hustlers can claim a financial victory over that film as well. The Martin Scorsese mob classic earned a solid $46 million in 1990, which would be around $99 million in 2019 ticket prices.
So is Hustlers still in the Oscar race due to its solid box office run? A lot of publications believe it should be but think The Academy won’t take it seriously based on the subject matter. STX Entertainment has never really had a film to push during awards season and Hustlers, at least on paper, checks a lot of the boxes that The Academy normally looks for (reviews, box office, word-of-mouth, subject matter, political timeliness, crime melodrama, real-life inspiration, and the aspirations of having a female-directed film starring women of color that has broken through to become successful). Joining the $100 million club helps in a lot of ways but perhaps its biggest achievement is that it shows moviegoers will pay to see films with subject matter that interest them and original Ip isn’t totally dead at the box office, even if this is only the third original film of the year to cross the $100 million milestone.
