by Nathaniel R
Until we hear further details, everything will be viewed through the lens of our apocalyptic fears about Oscar's new "popular achievement" category. Does The Meg's huge opening weekend mean it'll be up for an Oscar? I mean it has been since Jaws that a giant shark movie was Oscar nominated, so if Oscar wants to remain "relevant" they should totally start recognizing MUTANT SHARK movies! Elsewhere in box office news, Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman opened to great reviews, and much discussion, and is a total must-see "but since it didn't open big, I guess it's not as good as Slender Man and The Men so it doesn't deserve Oscar recognition, right?" he added sarcastically...
| Weekend Box Office Estimates (August 10-12) |
|
| W I D E 800+ screens |
PLATFORM / LIMITED excluding prev. wide |
 The Meg |
 Three Identical Strangers |
| 1. 🔺THE MEG $44.5 *NEW* REVIEW |
1. THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS $700K on 326 screens (cum. $9.6) REVIEW |
| 2. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT $20 (cum. $161.9) REVIEW, PODCAST | 2. 🔺THE ISLAND $282k on 40 screens *NEW* |
| 3. CHRISTOPHER ROBIN $12.4 (cum. $50) REVIEW |
3. BLINDSPOTTING $220k on 138 screens (cum. $3.7) |
| 4.🔺 SLENDER MAN $11.3 *NEW* REVIEW |
4. 🔺 PUZZLE $164k on 44 screens (cum. $447k) |
| 5.🔺BLACKKKLANSMAN $10.7 *NEW* REVIEW |
5. 🔺 MCQUEEN $154k on 53 screens (cum. $750k) REVIEW |
Though it did very well for a Spike Lee joint, Spike Lee joints don't tend to set the box office on fire. So should he return that Honorary Oscar? I'M JUST FOLLOWING OSCAR'S LOGIC THROUGH, Y'ALL. I seriously can't stop being pissed about this "popular achievement." notion. To quote Don Draper...
 Spy Who Dumped Me |
 The Miseducation of Cameron Post |
| 6. THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME $6.6 (cum. $24.5) | 6. LEAVE NO TRACE $141k on 123 screens (cum. $5.5) TRAILER DISCUSSION |
| 7. MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN $5.8 (cum. $103.8) REVIEW | 7.🔺 MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST $108k on 25 screens (cum. $182k) INTERVIEW, PODCAST |
| 8. THE EQUALIZER 2 $5.5 (cum. $89.6) |
8. 🔺 SCOTTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY... $53k on 18 screens (cum. $176k) REVIEW |
| 9. HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3 $5.1 (cum. $146.8) | 9. 🔺MADELINE'S MADELINE... $20k on 1 screen *NEW* |
| 10. ANT-MAN AND THE WASP $4 (cum. $203.5) CAPSULE REVIEW | 10. DARK MONEY $19k on 16 screens (cum. $135K) REVIEW |
| 🔺 = new or expanding its theater count numbers (in millions unless otherwise noted) from box office mojo |
|
In other news of note, Ant-Man and the Wasp crossed $200 million domestically so the only MCU films that haven't are the first solo films for Captain America, Thor, Ant-Man, and Incredible Hulk. I bet even Hulk would cross $200 million domestic if you made a sequel today. Not that they will.
In far more special news: Eighth Grade crossed $10 million which is quite a sum for a tiny indie with no bankable names that could just have easily stopped at like $400,000 with a less confident distributor. A24 IS DOING THE LORD'S WORK Y'ALL.
them: your film will never be released in theaters, it's too small and low budget. it can't compete with larger studio movies.
— Bo Burnham (@boburnham) August 5, 2018
me: oh yeah? pic.twitter.com/rmxm7VRoyy
WHAT DID YOU SEE THIS WEEKEND? I tried to go to a screening of Your Name with my friend Vern but it was sold out. I guess I should have seen it a year ago when it was released after it had failed to gain an Oscar nod. Uff, I hate that kind of release pattern. This week I did see Three Identical Strangers (liked but found it a bit evasive in spots) and BlacKkKlansman (loved) so I guess it was a double feature of OUTRAGEOUS TRUE STORIES.
Sorry for so many ALL CAPS in this post. I'm in my feelings and they're BIG today.