Nobody goes to the movies on Labor Day, do they?
Sunday, September 1, 2019 at 6:00PM In retrospect it was probably a bad idea to make a movie called Labor Day (remember that 2013 Kate Winslet misfire?) since Labor Day weekend is one of those rare holidays where people mostly avoid the movies. Essentially it's the last "outdoor" weekend, and it's no longer hot enough to pine away for air conditioned storytelling. At any rate here is the quickie chart for the weekend. Were you an iconoclast who did go to the movies this weekend or were you thwarted by Hollywood's lack of desire to program anything between franchise blockbusters. Seriously this year feels like they're not even trying -- thank god awards season might rescue us...
| Weekend Box Office Estimates August 30th- September 1st Estimates 🔺 = New or Expanding / ★ = Recommended |
|
| W I D E |
PLATFORM / SPECIALTY TITLES |
 Good Boys |
 Brittany Runs a Marathon |
| 1 Angel Has Fallen $11.5 (cum. $40.6) |
1 🔺 Tod@s Caen $1 on 371 screens *new* |
| 2 Good Boys $9.1 (cum. $56.1) REVIEW ★ |
2 🔺 After the Wedding $445k on 428 screens (cum. $862k) REVIEW |
| 3 The Lion King $6.7 (cum. $520.9) REVIEW |
3 🔺 Brittany Runs a Marathon $414k on 49 screens (cum. $637k) |
| 4 Hobbs & Shaw $6.2 ($157) REVIEW ★ |
4 Mission Mangal $370k on 151 screens (cum. $3.3) |
| 5 Overcomer $5.7 (cum. $17.2) |
5 🔺 Luce $277k on 235 screens (cum. $1.2) REVIEW ★ |
| 6 Ready or Not $5.6 (cum. $20) REVIEW ★ |
6 🔺 Killerman $150k on 320 screens *new* |
| 7 Scary Stories... $5 (cum. $57.6) |
7 🔺 Maiden [DOC] $134k on 180 screens (cum. $2.7) REVIEW ★ |
| 8 Spider-Man Far From Home $4.2 (cum. $384.7) REVIEW |
8 🔺 Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins [DOC] $93k on 18 screens *new* |
| 9 Dora and the Lost City... $4.1 (cum. $49.5) REVIEW |
9 🔺 Official Secrets $80k on 4 screens *new* REVIEW |
| 10 Angry Birds 2 $4.1(cum. $33.9) |
10 🔺 Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles [DOC] $74k on 28 screens (cum. $131k |
numbers on that chart are pulled from boxofficemojo
The biggest gainer among wide releases was Spider-Man Far From Home which returned to the top ten by re-expanding by 2,000+ theaters with some extra minutes of footage added (the same trick Avengers Endgame played to put itself past Avatar in the all-time charts).
It was quiet at the nation's arthouses. The weekend's best per screen average went to the new Keira Knightley drama Official Secrets (reviewed at Sundance) with a decent $20,000 per screen at 4 locations. We also wanted to mention Honeyland (reviewed) which fell just below the top ten above. It's now amasssed $371k in the US (impressive for a foreign language documentary on beekepeing!) and was announced to be the Oscar submission for North Macedonia recently so try to see it while it's still in theaters (it's at 42 locations now)
Reader Comments (22)
The only thing I re-watched a couple of days ago was Balls of Fury. Underrated film. Mainly because of THE GREAT CHRISTOPHER WALKEN.
I finally saw "The Farewell" -- Every once in awhile I see a movie which everyone else seems to love, and I miss the point. It felt very "I'm in film school and I have lots of ideas but don't quite know what to do with them" to me. The lead (both the character and Awkwafina's portrayal thereof) was an uninteresting drudge (although her mother and grandmother -- both the actresses and their characters -- were wonderful and deserved better movies). There were all these random elements -- like the aimless why-are-they-marrying central wedding? And who were all those people around the dinner table? And what's with the birds on the windowsills and the random cheesy pop songs in random places? At times the movie felt so amateurish it kept jolting me out of the story. I'm glad original indies about real people are still drawing people into theaters -- I just wish this was a better film.
I saw After the Wedding which is not great but really good! Moore & Williams are (surprise surprise!) fabulous in it!! I think because it's a remake of a critic's foreign darling of a movie it got treated unfairly by critic's...anyway sure feels good to see an adult drama....soooo done with the Marvel/Superhero crap!!
I saw The Farewell and had the opposite reaction. I thought it was very good and I learned a lot about Chinese culture.
They showed a trailer for After the Wedding with Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams and I thought it was a joke. Nathaniel I hope someone from your squad reviews it.
Glad that The Laundromat was well-received in Venice.
I went to a screening of "Dark Victory", does that count? Really wonderful, though constantly teetering right at the edge of too much cinematic artifice. Immediately went near the top of my favorite Davis performances.
I'm visiting family right now, so not going to the theatre, but we've been watching some great ones - "Bringing Up Baby" (stone cold classic, obviously) and "Dead Again" (great fun - I probably haven't seen it since the 90's - but the HD motion smoothing is definitely an irritant).
About to go see either Luce or After the Wedding. Thoughts anyone?
I saw Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood and yes I agree that Tarantino is at the top of his filmmaking mettle, flair, talent, whatever, but I sometimes get distracted by his desire to stamp his imprimatur in every scene that it gets in my way of seeing a compelling story unfold before my eyes. While a mild irritant, it is not major enough for me to dismiss this film as self indulgence central. In fact some parts were very well done (Sharon Tate watching a film she starred in the moviehouse was touching). Di Caprio was quite good. Brad Pitt even better. The ladies were given short shrift probably by auteurial design or the way their characters were written but still the trio of Julia Butters, Margot Robbie and Margaret Qualley gave indelible doses of life to their small-ish parts. Although I wish Dakota Fanning was utilised more.
Towards the end I was able to overcome my discomfort (even that Tarantinoesque reminder of spectacular violence in the latter part) of the sometimes-distracting auteurial flourish and enjoyed what was given onscreen. I stayed around during the credits and saw a segment with Di Caprio's Rick Dalton advertising a cigarette - generic but quite nice.
Saw BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON on Friday and I thought it was quite good. Jillian Bell is exquisite and the rest of the film was charming.
@Ryan T. - I'm interested to see that - Jillian Bell deserves a showcase.
I saw Brightburn which I really enjoyed and then Cher in Mask.
Worked the weekend so didn't get to the movies but I did see Jude Law in a tiny white speedo in the preview for The Young Pope and enjoyed it very much.
Ready -- i have never watched that show but also enjoyed the white speedo shot very much. maybe i should watch the show?
Dave --- i think DARK VICTORY is my favourite Bette Davis performance (apart from the twin towers of Baby Jane & All About Eve)
I saw "Scary Stories...." for free and I enjoyed it. A horror anthology aimed at kids it was fun but the kids seemed a bit familiar- we already met them in "Stranger Things" and specially "It". The director made the terrifying " The Autopsy of Jane Doe" which is a modern horror classic- but I think this was a producer movie and Del Toro's touch is everywhere specially in the looks of the various apparitions.
Where’s Bernadette already pulled from theaters. Crushing defeat for Cate.
In my self imposed isolation due to sickness I saw:
Home Before Dark- Nothing to write about but Jean Simmonds was excellent.
Rogue One- Better than I though it would be. Great special effects.
I saw Brittani runs a marathon today I loved it J.Bell is marvellous and deserved some award traction which I'm pretty sure she won't get....With Mary Kay Place in Diane it's my favorite performance so far this year!
Ended up seeing Luce. Harrison is going to be a big star and Watts is fabulous in it - her best showcase in years. Spencer gives her best performance.
I’ve been watching US Open tennis.
- Large cast of varied characters
- Surprising twists
- Thrills and chills
My best friend and I saw READY OR NOT on Friday night. It was not what I would have picked but I enjoyed it.
I stayed inside all weekend, initially in preparation for Hurricane Dorian, but Miami was (thankfully) spared, so I ended up trying to make a dent in the mountain of unwatched Blu-rays on my desk.
From Friday to Monday I watched the following (all for the first time):
- Magnificent Obsession (1954)
- The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)
- First Man (2018)
- Second Act (2018)
- Bitter Rice (1949)
- Gods and Monsters (1998)
- Les Parents Terribles (1948)
- Female Trouble (1974)