by Nathaniel R
A quick perusal of this weekend's top movies in wide (left) and limited (right) release. Commentary after the jump...
| Weekend Box Office Estimates (September 28th-30th) |
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| W I D E 800+ screens |
PLATFORM / LIMITED excluding prev. wide |
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| 1. 🔺 NIGHT SCHOOL $28 *NEW* |
1. THE WIFE $777K on 437 screens (cum. $6.1) Review, Poster Blurb, Glenn's Oscar |
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| 2. 🔺 SMALLFOOT $23 *NEW* Warner Animation Movies |
2. 🔺LITTLE WOMEN $747k on 643 screens |
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| 3. THE HOUSE WITH THE CLOCK IN ITS WALLS $12.5 (cum. $44.7) |
3. 🔺 COLETTE $418k on 38 screens (cum. $638k) |
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| 4. A SIMPLE FAVOR $6.6 (cum. $43) |
4. 🔺FREE SOLO $300k on 4 screens *NEW* |
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| 5. THE NUN $5.4 (cum. $109) Nun Movies |
5. 🔺 THE SISTERS BROTHERS $244k on 27 screens (cum. $404k) Review |
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| 6. 🔺 HELLFEST $5 *NEW* |
6. 🔺 OLD MAN AND THE GUN $150k on 5 screens *NEW* Review |
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| 7. CRAZY RICH ASIANS $4.1 (cum. $165.6) Review, Yeoh, Podcast, Best of Summer Lists |
7. 🔺 MONSTERS AND MEN $130k on 18 screens *NEW* |
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| 8. THE PREDATOR $3.7 (cum. $47.6) |
8. 🔺 BLAZE $96k on 89 screens (cum. $578k) |
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| 9. WHITE BOY RICK $2.3 (cum. $21.7) |
9. LIZZIE $89k on 206 screens (cum. $546k) Review |
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| 10. PEPPERMINT $1.7 (cum. $33.5) | 10. 🔺 PICK OF THE LITTER $74 on 63 screens (cum. $366k) |
| 🔺 = new or expanding theater count numbers (in millions unless otherwise noted) from box office mojo |
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A few thoughts...
Night School, capitalizing on Kevin Hart's solid bankability and current Tiffany Haddish mania, met enthusiastic crowds in its opening weekend but critics think it's terrible. How well it hold in its second weekend? That depends on whether audiences are laughing along with it.
Glenn Close's star vehicle The Wife continues its impressive stranglehold on specialty theater box office. It's been open for 7 weeks now and for the past 5 it's finished in the top three every time, and usually at #1.
National Geographic's Free Solo movie, about a death-defying climb of El Capitan had the strongest per screen average of the week, immediately announcing itself as another documentary hit in a very healthy year for audience interest in documentary films.
Robert Redford's swan song Old Man and the Gun had a solid first weekend and Sisters Brothers and Colette had good second weekends so provided these films generate good word of mouth they should be able to play for a while given that adult audiences tend to take a bit more convincing to get to the movies.
Opening outside the top ten the M.I.A. documentary Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. (Glenn raved about it here) had a strong showing in just two theaters, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead's much-lauded leading performance (which Jason raved about when it was on the festival circuit) in All About Nina opened in just 4 theaters
WHAT DID YOU SEE THIS WEEKEND?