Weekend Estimates: It Continues to Dominate as Openers Flounder

September 17, 2017

It

It continues to be a powerhouse at the box office this weekend with a second-weekend $60 million expected by Warner Bros., off a very respectable 51% from its opening. Remarkably, that would comfortably have been the best weekend in September, were it not for the film’s $123 million opening last weekend. It’s already the highest-grossing film ever released in September, and should make it easily to $300 domestically.

In the face of that kind of competition, the two new wide releases this weekend can’t find much traction. American Assassin, a by-the-book spy thriller, will come second with about $14 million—a decent start for this time of year, but not enough to move Dylan O’Brien’s career up a notch. It’s doing much better than mother!, however. The horror movie has landed with a thud with audiences (as evidenced by an “F” CinemaScore), and will pick up a modest $7.5 million for the weekend. One would expect poor word of mouth, but this seems to be a movie that divides audiences sharply, so there’s a chance that its fans will keep it around for a while… perhaps we’ll look at it as a cult movie five years from now?

The highlight among limited releases this weekend is Brad’s Status, which is set for something around $100,000 (Annapurna says $100,179) from four locations. An average of $25,000 to start out, and excellent reviews, suggests this will be solid indie hit. Also topping $10,000 per theater is Ex Libris: The New York Public Library, Frederick Wiseman’s latest documentary. Wiseman is a bit of an acquired taste, but his films tend to earn around $100,000 domestically, and this one is set for a similar run.

- Weekend estimates

- American Assassin Comparisons
- mother! Comparisons
- It Comparisons
- Home Again Comparisons
- The Hitman’s Bodyguard comparison chart
- Annabelle: Creation comparison chart

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, mother!, It, American Assassin, Brad’s Status, Ex Libris: The New York Public Library, Frederick Wiseman, Dylan O’Brien