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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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?