"Dunkirk" and "Girls Trip" Have Great Opening Weekends
Sunday, July 23, 2017 at 9:07PM By Nathaniel R
It's musical chairs every week at the box office now. But new releases like Dunkirk and Girls Trip (which both opened well above expectations) and presumably Atomic Blonde next weekend should have an untroubled run if word of mouth is strong given that August is looking pretty dire in terms of upcoming mainstream releases.
| Weekend Box Office (July 21st-23rd) |
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| W I D E | L I M I T E D |
 |
 |
| 1. 🔺 DUNKIRK $50.5 |
1. 🔺 MAUDIE $390k (cum. $4) 233 screens REVIEW |
| 2. 🔺 GIRLS TRIP $30.3 | 2. 🔺 THE LITTLE HOURS $162K (cum. $971k) 114 screens REVIEW |
| 3. SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING $22 (cum. $251.7) REVIEW | 2ND OPINION |
3. THE HERO $145K (cum. $3.7) 191 screens BEST ACTORS |
| 4. WAR FOR PLANET OF $20.4 (cum. $97.7) REVIEWISH | PODCAST |
4. 🔺 A GHOST STORY $141k (cum. $480k) 43 screens |
| 5. 🔺 VALERIAN AND... $17 |
5. LADY MACBETH $123k (cum. $219k) 40 screens |
 |
 |
| 6. DESPICABLE ME 3 $12.7 (cum. $213.3) |
6. BEATRIZ AT DINNER $114k (cum. $6.7) 116 screens |
| 7. BABY DRIVER $6 (cum. $84.2) REVIEW | 2ND OPINION | POSTERIZED | PODCAST |
7. 🔺 LOST IN PARIS $61K (cum. $242k) 42 screens |
| 8. THE BIG SICK $5 (cum. $24.5) REVIEW | 2ND OPINION | HOLLY ♥︎ !!! | PODCAST |
8. PARIS CAN WAIT $53k (cum. $5.4) 66 screens |
| 9. WONDER WOMAN $4.6 (cum. $389) REVIEW | TOP TEN | SPECIAL |
9. 🔺 LANDLINE $52k 4 screens |
| 10. WISH UPON $2.4 (cum. $10.5) | 10. 🔺 THE MIDWIFE $20k 3 screens |
🔺 = new or added screens numbers from box office mojo |
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Dunkirk's $50 million opening with no stars, no superpowers, and no sci-fi spectacle, is another reminder that directors can be bankable too, IF they consistently deliver for their audiences which Nolan has (consider that his devout fanbase never seems even the slightest bit disappointed in his work). Meanwhile people are using Girls Trip's terrific opening as a cudgel with which to beat Rough Night which is kinda silly. Just because two rowdy comedies feature a group of women does not make them interchangeable! Imagine saying that about two comedies about men behaving badly. Girls Trip received an A+ Cinemascore (meaning its paying audiences went wild for it) while Rough Night scored a C+ (which means the audiences didn't like it at all - C+ is basically a failing grade with Cinemascore). Their review fates were similarly disparate (pro Girls / con Rough) but reviews don't mean much to mainstream pictures in terms of opening weekend box office.
Wonder Woman marks its incredible 8th weekend in the top ten and maybe its last given that it took its first big hit with theater count. Still, what a run. It's now the #2 superhero origin movie of all time (behind only Sam Raimi's Spider-Man), the #1 DC Extended Universe movie, the #1 World War I movie (though the competition isn't strong there), the #2 movie of 2017 (behind Disney's Beauty & The Beast karaoke) and the #5 female action movie of all time (behind only two installments each from the Hunger Games and Star Wars franchises).
What did you see this weekend?
Dunkirk, Girls Trip, Landline, Valerian, box office
Reader Comments (42)
Girls Trip - good fun but it's a shame about the plot. Sentimental and cliche, but it's forgivable when you're laughing that much.
Valerian - Again, it's a shame about that plot. Beautiful but overlong and a little brainless. DeHaan is handed a blank, ineffectual leading role and somehow does even less with it. Delvigne runs circles around him, though it doesn't help either that they look like twins.
Aloha Bobby and Rose - Was led to this by Charles Taylor's recent book on 70s cinema. A small gem that I'd never heard of, with really great use of a pop soundtrack.
Saw Dunkirk. A bit disappointed since it works well as straight propaganda and also created little emotional investment for anyone in particular. Also don't like it in the climate of 2 upcoming Churchill films which also seem to praise the plucky "never quit!" idea of (nearly entirely white) Britain with little/no examination of the (hugely relevant) imperial context. Highly problematic message for this current world in which we are living.
Dunkirk - I admired this more than I liked it. It's well made but a rather straightforward war movie. The characters are superficial and it's sometimes boring. I know Nolan is revered but I was hoping for more given all the hype.
War for Planet of the Apes - I enjoyed this a lot because it focused on the animals. Andy Serkis should get some kind of award for his performance as Caesar.
Weren't Rough Night's (48 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) reviews pretty bad, while Girl's Trip has an 89% on RT? How were there "review fates" similar?
I saw The Big Sick. Very boring until she suffers the coma. Best in show was Holly Hunter, followed by Ray Romano. And Valerian. Overly long and not very good. As I have read elsewhere, both leads were too young to be such experienced agents, and they looked like siblings.
Dunkirk-it's easily the best film I've seen so far this year. It's intense yet beautiful. It elicited something rare from me for a Christopher Nolan film--deep emotions.
Don't you think 'Wonder Woman' can cross the $400 million line?
Dunkirk was technically marvelous, although a bit confusing in it's editing. It would have helped if there were less tall, dark haired lanky young men on the screen, and more of a variety in looks to keep everyone in the "Mole" section apart.
Still very, very well done, and I saw it in 70mm, as they requested. Wow, is that big and loud?!?!?!
Yes, there was a scene in Dunkirk with Cillian Murphy that seemed out of sequence. All the actors looked like brothers and this was often confusing. I also was bored with Tom Hardy flying around forever with no gas in his plane.
@Jake Girls Night also has a 72 on Metacritic, even higher than Atomic Blonde.
Weakest component of Girls Trip was its writing. Were Malcolm D. Lee responsible for the script it would not have felt so sitcom-y. Tiffany Haddish deserves a supporting actress campaign. Not arguing for a win since two veterans are vying for their overdue gold watch statuette.
Catbaskets,
You give sjws an even worse name. How the he'll is Britain's past imperialism relevant to a story about soldiers going through chaos to combat fascism? How is "never quit" a problematic message when speaking of the fight against fascism?
Propaganda? It's a WWII film, you idiot, not about our wars in the middle East or Vietnam. Good vs evil. The only war where that was truly the stakes.
Dunkirk's not political at all, so I'm flabbergasted by the nonsense that you wrote. Are you 13 years old? Are you an extremist of some kind? I'm liberal as fuck and that faux-intellectual drivel, for a brief moment, made me sympathize with Trump voters.
Amazing. Go to the doctor and ask him "where's my pulse?"
I fucking hate Nolan.
I have to laugh at the mere suggestion that a movie, let alone one about war is not political.
I saw Dunkirk as well and while there wasn't much in terms of actual plot, it was still a fairly entertaining movie. I saw it in a 70 mm IMAX screening which made it all the more impressive; the action scenes are tightly edited, and there's a real weight to them as there was little to almost no use of CGI. The movie is definitely getting over praised though; I wonder if that's simply a case of critics appreciating the straight-forwardness of the movie's plot when compared to Nolan's other, often needlessly convoluted, screenplays? I'm not exactly sure, but nowhere near "best film of 2017."
Re WONDER WOMAN's gross - an Indiewire article last week noted that the US inflation-adjusted gross for WWI silent THE BIG PARADE (1925) is sometimes estimated at over $700 million - which WONDER WOMAN has no hope of reaching.
This weekend I watched:
BABY DRIVER - I was really enjoying this until the disappointingly generic 3rd act
BLADE RUNNER - I'd never seen The Final Cut and I wanted to watch this ahead of 2049 in October. Still looks amazing, and Harrison Ford is better than I remembered, but the pacing is very odd with key characters disappearing for long stretches or only being introduced very late
DUNKIRK - I was looking forward to this so my expectations were medium-high, but I was very impressed. Immersive storytelling, clever use of the 3 timelines and it's the first Nolan film that's reduced me to tears (and more than once!). I suspect this will get A LOT of nominations - though maybe not acting or screenplay. But it'll probably win both sound Oscars and several others.
Jake and Nikki -- typo. I meant to type "similarly disparate" since the RT scores were almost identically as far removed from each other as the CinemaScore numbers... there's like an 40 percent gap.
Horns (pretty damn cool), Descendants 2 (a very fun film), 99 Homes (intensely eerie), and The Big Short (terrifying yet riveting as fuck).
I saw Dunkirk. Probably Nolan's best film to date. I also saw Girls Trip which is the funniest film I've seen so far this year and Tiffany Haddish STEALS every scene she is in.
For anyone interested in learning: (and not those who throw around words like sjw and idiot and don't deserve to be addressed) 2 million South Asians fought in WWII, including many Muslims, who were also evacuated at Dunkirk. Churchill frequently brandished racist rhetoric against Indian nationalists and used brutal force in putting down anti-colonial movements. So, when anti-Muslim and racist rhetoric is on the rise around the world including Britain it is hugely problematic to tell stories exclusively about white Britons being victims. Largest empire in world history. Always relevant.
I saw Valerian (and Laureline) and the City of a Thousand Planets.
A lively action adventure movie with a straightforward storyline. The actors were all fine, and the effects colourful, fresh, and fun.
A perfect summer movie.
The critics have been strangely grudging and unwelcoming. I guess they were like that with The Fifth Element too.
@catbaskets: thanks for passing along the info.
I saw the National Theatre Live broadcast of Angels In America. Catch it if you can. Superb acting.
I suspect inflation adjustment would also push LAWRENCE OF ARABIA above WW.
I saw Angels in America too, Joseph. How did you like it? I thought several sections of it were so unnecessary.
Not interested in seeing another film where white people are opressed !(Dunkirk, Hacksaw Ridge, Silence). It just rings as so fake in 2017.
Loved Dunkirk. I've seen literally hundreds of war movies and it's difficult to find one that feels new, yet essential. This, more than most war movies, defied a lot of sentimental tropes up to the ending (and I'd argue that the ending carries a mixed, foreboding message) and hammered home the spectacular nihilism of war, of men dying hopelessly and repetitively due to the decisions of far more powerful men they will never know or see. The story and visual decisions were incredibly effective. We have several protagonists who are vulnerable but but not resemble traditional war heroes in the least; they're too distracted fending off death from a million directions in a Sisyphean journey of survival. That and the lack of final catharsis makes it feel more like a WWI movie. This is one of the rare instances where a more clinical approach drew out real emotion from me and made me think about it afterwards.
Enjoy VALERIAN tanking. I'm personally opposed to Cara Delevingne getting cast in films due to nepotism; she stunk the place out in SUICIDE SQUAD.
Also saw the first part of Angels in America. Garfield is so 1000% committed emotionally but his choice to use a strangely hoarse voice is distracting. So odd to see Tovey using an American accent but it works.
Saw Dunkirk - affecting despite the fact that I could understand maybe 30% of the dialogue which made it unnecessarily confusing.
Saw DUNKIRK and I actually quite liked it. The dialogue and "plot" are wanting, but the tech aspects, the acting, and that brilliant 3-timelines conceit worked VERY well. My audience was in rapt attention and applauded loudly in the end.
I pity the people who came in late for the movie after the 3 timelines were established. How confused must they have been!
Even with the 3 timelines established it's still confusing (one week at beach, one day at boat, one hour in plane). That *kind of* explains why Cillian Murphy appears out of sequence, but honestly, was it needed? It could have been a quick flashback and accomplished the same purpose. But Nolan has to go all Memento and Inception when it's not needed! It's just a war movie. No one cares what time it is. My two cents.
I saw Girls Trip and Valerian, both of which I liked just fine. I laughed at Girls Trip more than any other movie this year, mostly due to Tiffany Haddish, although I think talk of an Oscar nomination for her is a BIT much. Valerian was stunning to look at and contained some truly unique ideas, but lacked the idiosyncrasy of Besson's best films... and the fact that DeHaan and Delevingne look like siblings makes their casting one of the worst casting decisions I think I've ever seen.
"Just because two rowdy comedies feature a group of women does not make them interchangeable! Imagine saying that about two comedies about men behaving badly."
Uh, I can easily imagine that. In fact, pretty much every recent comedy about adults behaving badly, irrespective of the genders involved, has seemed utterly interchangeable.
TCM is doing a 50 years of Hitchcock -even his lesser films are worth watching- and at his best as in "Shadow of a Doubt" with the wonderful Teresa Wright nobody does it better than the master
I saw Death Becomes Her with my partner, which I had never seen. I know this film has a lot of fans, but as someone who has no nostalgic affection for it, I thought it was pretty lousy.
Nathaniel have you seen Lady Macbeth? Would really love to hear your thoughts on it. It was released here in the UK a while ago and it blew me away. Florence Pugh is electrifying and definitely deserves a place in the Best Actress conversation this year.
A Ghost Story - loved it until the ending, but what a fascinating unique film.
Get Out & Dunkirk - loved both
If you start getting picky you find flaws in both, but Dunkirk especially is probably Nolan's best film. It's breathtaking, it's short (for a Nolan film), it has a clear message (for a Nolan film), and I can't possibly consider it propaganda. I mean, I'd love to see the UK suffer post-Brexit (if it happens at all), it deserves to! People should be aware of the fact that voting means something and that no fucking country deserves special treatment simply because "blah blah blah". But none of that means I can't or shouldn't enjoy Dunkirk.
Yavor - I'm honestly curious, what do you think the clear message of Dunkirk is?
@DJDeeJay - purpose & collaboration
Rod--I just saw A Ghost Story last night! I'm hoping there will be a thread about the film, because it would be interesting to discuss ...
Yavor - To say that you want the UK to suffer after Brexit tells me that I was right to vote Leave. Why would I want to be part of a club with people like that? I'm proud to be British and nothing will change that. Britain has a proud history for standing up against Fascism, Dictators and Federalism. I can also say I'm European, because the EU and Europe aren't the same.
And before you call me Xenophobic, I have been to 20 different European countries so far, and am going to Germany again next week for the umpteenth time.