Box Office: Venom, A Star is Born, and new records for Crazy Rich Asians
Monday, October 8, 2018 at 9:30AM by Nathaniel R
What did you see over the weekend? Both Venom and A Star is Born opened to big numbers making it a strong start to October box office. While Venom isn't as likely to hold well (lower Cinemascore, terrible reviews, and no awards season to maintain interest) both are already hits. More after the jump...
| Weekend Box Office Estimates (October 5-7) |
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| W I D E 800+ screens |
PLATFORM / LIMITED excluding prev. wide |
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| 1. 🔺 Venom $80 *NEW* |
1. 🔺 Free Solo $540k on 41 screens (cum. $953k) |
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| 2. 🔺 A STAR IS BORN $41.2 *NEW* Review, Posterized |
2. 🔺The Hate U Give $500k *NEW * on 36 screens |
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| 3. SMALLFOOT $14.9 (cum. $42.7) Warner Animation Movies |
3. 🔺 Colette $458k on 107 screens (cum. $1.2) Capsule |
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| 4. Night School $12.2 (cum. $46.7) |
4. The Wife $403k on 358 screens (cum. $6.8) Review, Blurb |
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| 5. House with the Clock... $7.2 (cum. $55) |
5. 🔺 Old Man and the Gun $385k on 49 screens (cum. $575k) Review |
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| 6. 🔺 A Simple Favor $3.4 (cum. $49) Capsule |
6. 🔺 Shine $218k *NEW* on 609 screens |
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| 7. The Nun $2.6 (cum. $113.3) Nun Movies |
7. 🔺 Sisters Brothers $207k on 54 screens (cum. $693k) Review |
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| 8. Hell Fest $2 (cum. $8.8) |
8. 🔺 Monsters and Men $177k on 143 screens (cum. $304k) |
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| 9. Crazy Rich Asians $2 (cum. $169.1) Review, Yeoh, Podcast |
9. Little Women $155k on 451 screens (cum. $1.1) |
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| 10. The Predator $900k (cum. $49.9) |
10. 🔺 Tea with the Dames $67k on 44 screens (cum. $154k) |
| 🔺 = new or expanding theater count numbers (in millions unless otherwise noted) from box office mojo |
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A few more key noteworthy items:
• Loving Pablo starring Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz opened with very little promotion at 15 screens and barely eked out a $1000 per screen average.
• Colette continues to expand well and I have to admit I'm surprised. I thought it wouldn't prove exciting enough for audiences to generate any real word of mouth.
• Rebooting every franchise doesn't work. The Predator lost over a thousand theaters in its fourth weekend and has a dismal $548 screen average already. It will close well short of its $88 million budget domestically but perhaps the overseas take will save it since it's made and additional $73 million overseas thus far?
• Disney's Christopher Robin mysteriously added nearly a 1000 screens in its 10th weekend which usually means the movie in question has been pushed to a double-bill on drive-ins as the studio is trying to manipulate the numbers to push said film over some box-office marker. This happened earlier in the year with both Black Panther and A Wrinkle in Time to just barely help them to the $700 million and $100 million grosses respectively (it worked). It won't this time since the film is is about 2 million shy of the $100 million mark and with a per screen average of $278 it's not going to get there.
• Crazy Rich Asians has some new things to brag about in its 8th weekend: It's now the 10th biggest hit of 2018, the fourth most successful romantic comedy of the 21st century (after My Big Fat Greek Wedding, What Women Want, and Hitch), the #1 romantic comedy of this decade (Silver Linings Playbook now a distant second), and by far the leggiest film of the year given that it only opened at $26 million whereas all of the other blockbusters opened at $50 million on up). If it holds onto a top ten placement for one more week it'll become only the third movie this year to survive that long! For what it's worth these are the only 2018 films that stayed in the top ten for two full months:
- Black Panther - 13 weeks in top ten / 5 at the very top (#1 film of the year domestic)
- Avengers Infinity War - 9 weeks in top ten / 3 at the very top (#1 film of the year global)
- Crazy Rich Asians - 8 weeks in top ten / 3 at the very top (#10 film of the year domestically)
- [TIE] Mission: Impossible - Fallout / A Quiet Place - 8 weeks in top ten / 2 at the very top
- Incredibles 2 - 8 weeks in top ten / only one week at the top (#3 film of year domestic/ #4 globally)
WHAT DID YOU SEE THIS WEEKEND?
Reader Comments (47)
I saw A Star is Born, which I liked but didn't love despite FANTASTIC performances by Cooper and Gaga and very good songs.
And I saw The Hate U Give, which is TREMENDOUS. It's that rare film that is topical and has a point of view but never ever feels preachy. It's very affecting (my eyes were filled with tears throughout the entire second half) and always entertaining. Amandla Stenberg and Russell Hornsby are great and deserve awards consideration, as does the film's screenplay (the writer tragically died immediately after the film opened).
"A Star is Born", which is good enough but not revelatory. It was too traditional for me, with zero surprises. It's well performed but you already know every beat of it.
I saw A Star is Born. If Lady Gaga beats Glenn Close, I won't be a bit disappointed.
FYC for the Film Bitch special categories, line reading of the year:
"I'm wearing Jackson's tiddies!" — Willam
Thrilled for Crazy Rich Asians. I don't have a favorite of the year at this point, but it's among those I thought was exceptional.
I saw A Star Is Born, which is fantastic as a star vehicle for Bradley Cooper but felt very confused elsewhere. The unqualified raves are, I have to say, a bit of a mystery to me, but then there's usually at least one of those films every year where you're just not on the same page as everyone else.
I saw A Star is Born. If Lady Gaga beats Glenn Close, I''l burn down the Kodak Theatre.
Completely agree, Peggy Sue. The raves for such a passable (at its best) performance baffle me.
Saw both "A Star is Born" and, belatedly, "Searching." Both good, neither great. I hope "Star" earns 200 million, just to prove people will go to actual movies, and not only glorified CGI show reels, but it's not a masterpiece, and I feel better about Glenn Close's chances of winning the Oscar this year. Gaga is fine, much better than she was in AHS a couple years ago, where it seemed she couldn't act her way out of a paper bag (the producers basically used her as a found object, so her presence didn't hurt the show). Her performance in "Star" hardly demands an Oscar, though it probably deserves a nomination, depending on the competition. She's certainly not Streisand in "Funny Girl". What really impresses with "Star" is the direction. Cooper finds a perfect balance between an old fashioned classical Hollywood style and the recently dominant cinema-verite/hand held aesthetic we're all starting to get tired of. Some of the acting beats are spectacular, but they're as much an effect of canny editing choices as the decisions of the performers. As for "Searching," I loved the way the filmmakers used Debra Messing. She's not really any different here than she is in the serious bits between the jokes in "Will and Grace," but she comes across soooo differently due to context.
Saw Crazy Rich Asians. Hated it. Really hated it.
Hell Fest, cuz October is for horror movies. Also watched Bait 3-D and The Bay.
Saw 'Star' this weekend. I thought B Cooper was terrific and did an amazing job, especially for his first time directing. I thought Gaga was very good, but not Oscar-win worthy. I think some of her best acting moments are when she is with Jack, listening, watching, reading how drunk he is. And of course she performed amazingly. The cinematography was great.
PoliVamp -- how was hell fest? Haven't heard a peep about it.
Been doing a Joan Crawford binge. My sister and her boyfriend watched Venom and they're officially disowned and are homophobic.
Saw ASIB and was shocked how much I loved Gaga's performance. I think she nails every aspect. Looking forward to seeing The Wife next week to decide which side I'm on.
I saw A STAR IS BORN, which I liked but didn't love. Funnily enough, my two sisters felt the same way, and I expected them to love it. It makes me think this movie may be yet another casualty of festival overhype? I think seeing this kind of movie at a big festival with likeminded critics may have resulted in such euphoric raves. But to each his own.
Nathaniel - It was okay. It subverts the slasher trope in a few small ways, but if it fades into obscurity within 2 years, it won't be entirely undeserved. Gave it a 5 out of 10 in my review. Think only slasher fans will really like it.
"A Star is Born" is ludicrously realized - there is absolutely no sense of time throughout (how long passes? no more than a year tops). Lady Gaga is solidly good, but was I the only one who noticed her face is frozen into a motionless botox mask?? Her performance is GREAT if you grade on the curve of her manifesting emotions with literally only her eyelids and pouted lips. Silly stuff. Left the theater feeling like...where's the move for Willam and Shangela's characters??
Randomly, I also watched "Coal Miner's Daughter" for the first time this weekend. A very interesting counterpoint movie (with some of the same iconic rise to fame type of scenes - the first public performance forced by the love interest, for example). What a superior movie in every way. Sissy is one of the all time greats and Beverly D'Angelo is a gravitational force as Patsy Cline. The sparkle between the two actresses is <3 <3 <3. So worth checking it.
Finally, I checked out "Private Lives" and turned off 3/4 of the way through when I realized it was pretty much a filmed pamphlet of every horrible that can occur along the way of trying to conceive/adopt. No thank you.
I saw “A Star is Born”.
If a woman had directed “A Star is Born”, it would be called “a Lifetime movie”.
I lost interest in A Star is Born. It seems like a standard chick flick.
I finished Maniac and have nothing but admiration for Emma Stone.
I saw Lady Gaga pretends to be someone else only to become Lady Gaga.
a star is born. loved the dog. couldn't help but think that the movie focused far too much on jackson. even in the scenes with the two of them (i'm thinking the scene lying on the bed / cancelling the europe tour) at the end the camera lingered on his face almost exclusively. it felt to me like his story and she was there at points.
also, did the movie blame addiction on the addict? like explicitly, in one of sam elliot's lines at the end? that is... not cool.
@ jc0n - i had the same thought. it seemed like the whole movie took place in 2017 (judging by iphones / other tech) but it must have spanned many years...
Saw Hell Fest earlier in the week. It's fun if you get excited when Target puts our Halloween decorations. Liked the ending more than I probably should.
Saw Star--not sure if anyone has heard of it. Cooper blew me away. I think I like it less now than when I initially left the theater.
Support the Girls was great--would love at least an ATTEMPT at an FYC campaign
That's the problem for me with ASIB idon't see Ally just GaGa,it's like a fan service film but Cooper just extended his talents to directing turned out all right Eastwood,Gibson,Clooney,Redford,Foster etc,
Friday I saw related short and feature HOMOTOPIA and CRIMINAL QUEERS, radical, lo-fi, queer delights. One of my best friends was in the latter, along with Miss Major and Angela Davis!
Saturday, I saw A STAR IS BORN, which certainly had moments where I thought it would fall apart, but ultimately I enjoyed enough. I went in knowing it couldn’t be better than the Garland version and couldn’t possibly be worse than the Streisand one... and I was right! I think Gaga is good, but Cooper is better. Right now, I think he will win Actor and she will win Song.
And Sunday, I saw Barbara Loden’s WANDA. I watched it earlier this year and wasn’t wild about it. (It being a favourite of both Isabelle Huppert and John Waters made me feel like I was really missing out). I think watching it on the big screen helped, because I now love it. Her performance is incredible, and I was just devastated by the end.
Then I watched the original original Star is Born: Cukor’s WHAT PRICE HOLLYWOOD?, which was okay!
Saw Star, Gaga is good but no Judy Garland GREAT, I feel like she was faking a lot of the time and her performance flops at the end.. her big closing number (my man/cabaret) moment was decent, but not Streisand or Minnelli GREAT, Glenn is winning this time, her performance is a tour de force, she’s winning or not being nominated at all... Bradley is winning the Oscar, his performance is GREAT, and you feel sorry for him, his only big opponent for me is Ryan Gossling, but at this point Bradley is overdue for the Oscar with 3 noms / 0 wins....I think the favorite is going to be a smash hit so I’m waiting for that one to make my mind about best picture and director
i don’t think you become “overdue” for an oscar by getting 3 nominations. you either need ALOT of nominations or one or two where you were seriously a win contender/threat. i.e., very few people think Cooper was unjustly deprived of a win on one of his prior nominations.
All I know is I'm dying to see the new STAR IS BORN even more now due to the wide range of opinions: "It's great!" "It's terrible!" "Ga Ga's fab!" "Ga Ga sucks!"
And so on.
One lesson I'm learning in 2018: See the movies you're excited to see as quickly as you can, before the backlash can worm its way into your subconscious.
Just saw Star Is Born .... simply put... TERRIFIC.
Gaga was very good... but for me the revelation was Cooper... BOTH acting and direction. He took a timeworn theme and made it fresh.
I think Golden Globes for all... Oscars ... surely a Cooper npm.
Re-watches of The Water Diviner, a Bee Gees documentary from the BBC, and Maverick while the lone-first timer was The Immortal Story by Orson Welles.
I saw A Star Is Born and I wish I hadn't.
@Miz Miz - this is a very astute point, and unfortunately so I might add. That's why I try to avoid reviews and the discourse around a movie as much as possible before I see it for myself, but in some cases (like for A Star is Born) it's virtually impossible.
I saw "A Star is Born" which was good, not great. The last half is a mess. Another film that suffers from the over-hype from the various film festivals. Nathaniel, you're guilty of over-hyping this one as well.
New movies:
KIN (not bad, although the Zoe Kravitz character was utterly superfluous).
THE STRANGERS:PREY BY NIGHT, preceded by THE STRANGERS in the afternoon (they did so well to build on the first, and then upped the ante with a few surprises. Could be a viable franchise.)
LORO (good, even if it isn't up there with Sorrentino's best (like YOUTH, THE GREAT BEAUTY and THIS MUST BE THE PLACE). Saw the 2.5 hour supercut, not the two individual movies.)
THE OPPOSITION (documentary about Papua New Guinea displacement of village for commercial resort. Amateur, but still engaging.)
Old(-ish): was looking for something to watch on Sunday night, and then KILLERS was on the ol' free-to-air channels. Never saw it when it came out, was worth a look, but I assume I will have forgotten it by the end of the month!
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@MDA—
Reviews by professional critics are still really valuable to me. Their incentives are strong to call it like they see it and I rarely find that the critical consensus for a movie is way out of touch with my experience. There are random films I love that critics hated (and visa versa) but even I can see why they wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. Or why the things I hated wouldn't bother most people.
But anyone who says "I saw A Star is Born and wish I hadn't" seems *really* out of touch with my experience and untrustworthy. Incentives on Twitter/comment sections are strong to say the most outlandish (good or bad) thing. That's what I'm learning to tune out.
A Star is Born is going to be this years La La Land. A movie critics love and has great box office, but the internet decides it hates because, I don’t know, to be contrary.
My boyfriend almost broke up with me for snickering throughout A STAR IS BORN Friday night, and I went to see it again tonight (solo) and to try again to give it a fair shot. I think it reflects all that is wrong with our culture, and it fetishizes the very things it tries to expose. I don’t think Lady Gaga is terrible, but I find her serviceable at best. The second half (Ally’s ascent to fame) is a total mess. I left when my wine ran out (during the SNL performance). I find how utterly forgettable the music is to be most unforgivable of all. I would be happy to see Sam Elliot secure a Suppirting Actor nomination, but I really feel this “phenomenon” to be people buying exactly what they’re told to (and accusing anyone who doesn’t eat it up of being “too hip” or “contrarian”). The highlight of the experience was being next to Virginia Madsen in line for concessions!
@Jcon you weren’t the only one who noticed Gaga’s emotionless, frozen face. At first I wondered if she was just really self conscious and a bit wooden, but then I started to notice, that no, that face was not moving.at all, it was also particularly noticeable when she was on Graham Norton a couple of weeks ago.
And hey look, I’m not judging anyone who choses to do that, and I recognise it’s salacious and gossipy to even discuss it, but in all honesty it did distract me from the movie.
Aaron said it right.
Lady Gaga has fibromyalgia. Her chronic pain from fibromyalgia was featured in the documentary about her last year. Fibromyalgia is treated with Botox. I also have to take Botox for my migraines, and my forehead isn't very mobile either.
I understand if you feel this detracts from her performance, but there are plenty of other Botoxed actresses who have been heavily praised here at TFE.
I honestly didn't notice the Botox, but the thought that someone as young as Gaga is taking Botox to look younger is ludicrous, obviously. Fibromyalgia may be the explanation. Anyway, there are people whose faces don't contort like jello when they talk, people who are a bit locked up, in terms of their affectivity. I've seen some Redford performances where his face hardly moves. Sometimes it works for the character, sometimes it doesn't.
I’m planning to go see “A Star is Born” this weekend. I’m anticipating to see GAGA and Cooper of their hype performances. I do have issues with celebrities playing themselves to win awards. This season best actress is definitely Close Vs GAGA. I felt pity for Blunt, she gave numerous Oscar’s worthy peformances throughout the years. I’m saving “Mary Poppins Returns” Christmas in a box.
Saw A Star Is Born. Sometimes, the hype is there because the movie's just that good. Here ya go. No amount of misguided backlash will change my mind. Gaga has a great shot at the Oscar. She's that damn good.
The problem with A Star Is Born is because it's white and heterosexual. In the Trump years these two words are synonymous for conservadorism/republican/trumpism. This vision affected La La Land. I think that during the Trump presidency AMPAS will only give Best Picture for movies that show diversity and inclusion - as a political statement for the industry, the country and the world.
The comment above is the dumbest shit I've ever heard. Proves there is such a thing as a dumb progressive.
@Melchiades - I’m as tired of straight white men as the next person but that does seem like a strange argument for this particular movie since it has [SPOILERS] an extensive opening at a drag bar (that doubles as a mini-exposé/celebration of the culture), a biracial family (including Chappelle’s real-life daughter and Robert De Niro’s adult biracial daughter as his wife) and a Black justice of the peace (Eddie Griffin) that officiates their union [SPOILERS]. If anything, half of the American Sniper audience would clutch their pearls and walk out of this thing 20 minutes in. I’d say it’s a pretty sensitive, sincere film.
Also, what affected La La Land was being a lesser film than Moonlight. I wish people would stop finding reasons to diminish that film’s impact/win. Sometimes people go with their hearts over flashy theatrics (and I thought La La Land was enjoyable, so it’s possible to see merit in both movies).