Weekend Wrap-Up
By Tim Briody
August 11, 2019
With the superhero movies and franchises all out of the way, Hollywood throws a bunch of movies against the wall this weekend to see if anything sticks. Surprisingly enough, two out of the five new releases this weekend do, as Hobbs & Shaw hangs on to the weekend crown.
Dropping 58% from its opening weekend, Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw earns $25.4 million, enough to win a second weekend at the top. The spinoff starring The Rock and Jason Statham has $108.5 million after two weekends. The dropoff was to be expected, but more important to the film and the franchise is that it's got over $200 million internationally already. That actually tops its production budget, so whatever it earns here is what's going to send the Universal production into the black. It's not going to come close to the billion dollars earned overseas by Furious 7 and Fate of the Furious, but it's going to be more than enough to make sure this franchise keeps on going, especially with Fast and Furious 9 coming next Memorial Day weekend and a tenth penciled in for 2021.
Second goes to the top opener for the weekend, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Based on a collection of horror stories for children, it earned a solid $20.8 million on the weekend, after being the top film for a day on Friday when it started with $8.7 million.
Earning decent reviews (rating 80% Fresh at Rotten Tomatoes), Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark starred pretty much nobody and was banking on the popularity of the book series (first published in 1981!) to carry the film with teens too old for Dora, and that appears to have paid off on opening weekend. This somehow cost Lionsgate $28 million to make (you'd think they'd have Blumhouse on speed dial on ways to cut costs), so it'll be there midweek, but I don't expect a great hold in subsequent weekends.
The Lion King continues to roll, taking third place with $20 million and has $473.1 million in four weekends. Disney. That's it. That's the analysis.
Another opener lands in fourth place as Dora and the Lost City of Gold opens with $17 million. The long anticipated live action adaptation of Dora the Explorer (the show debuted in 2000(!) and a joke movie trailer hit YouTube in 2012), there was certainly concern that this was too late and the series was past its prime as a film adaptation. That's certainly never stopped Hollywood, though, and here we are.
While the reviews (81% Fresh) indicated that they mostly got it right, and the opening is decent enough for what it is, being released with The Lion King still going strong likely limited its box office potential to a degree, as it was definitely competing for family dollars. Dora and the Lost City of Gold also cost a surprising $49 million to make, so there's a little bit of work to do for it to make that back.
Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood lands at $100 million with a third weekend of $11.6 million. Quentin Tarantino's latest has been wildly divisive among his fans, but it hasn't impacted the box office at all. It's looking to finish a bit ahead of Inglourious Basterds' $120 million, but well behind Django Unchained's $162 million.
Our third new release places sixth as The Art of Racing in the Rain earns just $8.1 million. Starring Milo Ventimiglia and Amanda Seyfried, the film's actually about a dog, and yes, before you ask, with a title like that it's of course based on a novel. Yes, we have yet another movie about a dog, which is almost its own genre at this point. Audiences weren't buying, and thus we have the disappointing weekend. A Fox film that Disney acquired (have any of these been hits yet?), they kept it cheap (reported $20 million budget), but it's not getting that back in theaters.
Another disappointment takes seventh as The Kitchen earns just $5.5 million. A crime thriller starring Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss, this feels a lot like last year's Widows, and on top of the terrible reviews (20% Fresh), nobody could be bothered to care. Costing $37 million, this is a big miss for Warner Bros.
Spider-Man: Far from Home adds $5.3 million in its sixth weekend and has $370.9 million to date, and Toy Story 4 takes ninth with another $4.4 million and $419.5 million in eight weekends. The summer has belonged to Disney and Marvel.
While there was a fifth opener in Brian Banks, that placed 12th on the weekend with $2.1 million. Sneaking into the tenth spot this week is Bring the Soul: The Movie, earning 42.2 million in 873 theaters. Since it's a concert film about the South Korean boy band BTS, ask your local pre-teen girl for more information.
The top 12 film this weekend earned a $125.4 million, just behind last year's $132.9 million when The Meg launched with $45.4 million.
If you liked this weekend's variety pack of new releases, get ready for another as we continue to empty the closet with another five wide releases, none of which will set the world on fire. Leading the way is The Angry Birds Movie 2. We also have sequel 47 Meters Down: Uncaged, R-rated comedy Good Boys, and book adaptations Where'd You Go, Bernadette? and Blinded By the Light.
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Top Ten for Weekend of August 9-11, 2019
|
Rank |
Film |
Distributor |
Estimated
Gross ($) |
Weekly Change |
Cumulative
Gross ($) |
|
1
|
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
|
Universal
|
25.4
|
-58%
|
108.5
|
|
2
|
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
|
CBS FIlms
|
20.8
|
New
|
20.8
|
|
3
|
The Lion King
|
Walt Disney
|
20.0
|
-48%
|
473.1
|
|
4
|
Dora and the Lost City of Gold
|
Paramount
|
17.0
|
New
|
17.0
|
|
5
|
Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood
|
Sony Pictures
|
11.6
|
-42%
|
100.3
|
|
6
|
The Art of Racing in the Rain
|
20th Century Fox
|
8.1
|
New
|
8.1
|
|
7
|
The Kitchen
|
Warner Bros.
|
5.5
|
New
|
5.5
|
|
8
|
Spider-Man: Far From Home
|
Sony Pictures
|
5.3
|
-33%
|
370.9
|
|
9
|
Toy Story 4
|
Walt Disney
|
4.4
|
-40%
|
419.5
|
|
10
|
Bring the Soul: The Movie
|
Trafalgar Releasing
|
2.2
|
New
|
4.4
|
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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