Friday Box Office Analysis
By Tim Briody
September 9, 2017
Throw away your “movies are dead!” thinkpieces, It is here to save us all.
It
After the wasteland that was the box office for the last few weekends, It arrives and everything is okay now. In just one day, records have been shattered as the Stephen King adaptation earned an astounding $51 million on Friday. The September opening weekend record was Hotel Transylvania 2 with $48.4 million. It has already beaten that. Last week’s top 11 movies earned $50.9 million over the four day weekend. It has been in theaters for one day. This weekend, It will have beaten the weekend totals for the next 11 movies with the Friday box office alone. Given the nearly unprecedented futility of the last few weeks, it's nice to report some good history at the box office. Use of hyperbole is very difficult when it comes to the Friday performance of It.
It was already making headlines early Friday as the reported earnings from Thursday night showings came in at $13.5 million, signaling a huge Friday in the making. Even with a potentially awful weekend multiplier, the $37.5 million actual Friday is more than enough that It is going to crack the $100 million mark, the first time for a September opening. We’re now down to just January (American Sniper, $89 million) and October (Gravity, $55 million) as the two remaining months without a $100 million opening weekend. Simply incredible.
I’m going on the lower end of estimates here, especially with a portion of the country seeking shelter from Hurricane Irma as it approaches the US, but it’s still history at the box office and a fantastic opening weekend. It is headed for a weekend of $105 million.
Home Again
Reese Witherspoon (the one time queen of September as her Sweet Home Alabama held the September opening weekend record for 10 years) returns to her romcom roots with Home Again, but it’s fitting right in with the rest of the August leftovers with just $3 million on Friday. It’s headed to a weekend of around $8 million and will quickly be swept away.
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Projected Estimates for the Top Ten (Three-Day)
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Projected
Rank |
Film |
Estimated Gross |
|
1
|
It
|
105.0
|
|
2
|
Home Again
|
8.1
|
|
3
|
The Hitman's Bodyguard
|
4.4
|
|
4
|
Annabelle: Creation
|
3.6
|
|
5
|
Wind River
|
3.0
|
|
6
|
Leap
|
1.6
|
|
7
|
Dunkirk
|
1.6
|
|
8
|
Spider-Man: Homecoming
|
1.6
|
|
9
|
Logan Lucky
|
1.5
|
|
10
|
Girls Trip
|
0.7
|
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