Weekend Wrap-Up: Hobbs and Shaw Survive Their Sophomore Stint
August 12, 2019
The weekend box office was mediocre with many of the new releases missing expectations, and some of them had low expectations to begin with. Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw was able to remain in first place, but on the low end of expectations, leaving Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark as the biggest positive news of the weekend. Overall, the weekend box office was 11% lower than last weekend at $132 million. Worse still, this is 10% lower than the same weekend last year, leaving 2019 further behind last year’s pace. 2019 is now behind 2018 by 6.2% or $480 million at $7.16 billion to $7.64 billion.
Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw fell 58% during its second weekend of release earning $25.27 million over the weekend for a total of $108.38 million This is not enough for a movie that cost $200 million to make and if it were a normal movie, it would cost Universal a lot of cash. Fortunately, Fast and the Furious are not normal movies and they thrive internationally, so much so that this film could break even entirely on its box office and home market numbers outside the domestic market.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark had the best opening in CBS Films’ history with $20.92 million, putting it just ahead of The Woman in Black for that record. Its reviews are a big selling point, while its C from CinemaScore is fine for a horror film. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of direct competition coming up, so I’m worried about its legs. That said, its combined budget is reportedly just $50 million, so it should match that domestically, even with relatively short legs. If it merely matches that figure internationally, then it will break even sometime during its home market run.
The Lion King came within a rounding error of expectations with $20.21 million over the weekend for a four-week total of $473.31 million. This film will get to $500 million domestically, but it will likely get pushed out of the top five before then.
Dora and the Lost City of Gold struggled with $17.43 million during its opening weekend. This isn’t a disaster for a film that cost $49 million to make, but it is not enough to justify creating a franchise, not unless it has long legs and a huge run internationally. Its reviews and its A rating from CinemaScore suggest long legs, but it is too soon to tell if it will be a hit internationally.
Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood rounded out the top five with $11.65 million for a total of $100.38 million after three weeks of release. The film was expensive to make, so it will need to do well internationally to break even and early results are encouraging.
The Art of Racing in the Rain was next with $8.14 million. This is a typical result for a late summer dump. It is clear that Fox / Disney lost faith in the project. The critics agree, but audiences, who saw the film, gave it an A minus from CinemaScore. Sadly, that won’t be enough to help its legs, as many theater owners will be looking to drop the film before word-of-mouth has a major effect.
The Kitchen barely avoided the Mendoza Line with an opening weekend of $5.53 million in 2,745 theaters. Its reviews will kill its legs, as will its B from CinemaScore. Furthermore, a lot theater owners will be looking to drop this one as soon as they are contractually able to.
Bring the Soul: The Movie managed tenth place with $2.30 million over the weekend for a five-day opening of $4.42 million. This is a strong opening for a film playing in just 873 theaters.
Brian Banks wasn’t as lucky with an opening of $2.16 million in 1,240 theaters. It will all but disappear before September truly begins.
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Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, The Lion King, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, Dora and the Lost City of Gold, The Kitchen, The Art of Racing in the Rain, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Brian Banks, Bring the Soul: The Movie, Fast and the Furious