"Dunkirk" and "Girls Trip" Have Great Opening Weekends

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)
W I D E	L I M I T E D
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
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

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? 

Box Office: War for the Planet of Spider-Man

By Nathaniel R

Spidey was only able to stay on the box office mountain-top for a single week. Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his army of intelligent ape friends came storming in on horseback to take over during the War For the Planet of the Apes. 

Weekend Box Office (July 14th-16th)
W I D E	L I M I T E D
1. PLANET OF APES (9) $56.5 NEW	1. THE HERO $343k (cum. $3.4) 341 screens BEST ACTORS
2. SPIDER-MAN (6) $45.2 (cum. $208.2) REVIEW	2. THE LITTLE HOURS $318K (cum. $689k) 105 screens REVIEW
3. DESPICABLE ME 3 $18.9 (cum. $187.9)	3. MAUDIE  $252K (cum. $3.5) 99 screens REVIEW
4. BABY DRIVER $8.7 (cum. $73.1) REVIEW | BEST OF | POSTERIZED	4. BEATRIZ AT DINNER $222k (cum. $6.4) 205 screens
5. THE BIG SICK $7.6 (cum. $16) REVIEW | HOLLY ♥︎ !!!	5. PARIS CAN WAIT $153k (cum. $5.3) 177 screens
6. WONDER WOMAN  $6.8 (cum. $380.6) REVIEW | TOP TEN | SPECIAL	6. A GHOST STORY  $146k (cum. $288k) 20 screens
7. WISH UPON $5.5 NEW	7. LOST IN PARIS $79K (cum. $138k) 38 screens
8. CARS 3 $3.1 (cum. $140)	8. LADY MACBETH $68k NEW 5 screens
9. TRANSFORMERS (5) $2.7 (cum. $124.8) REVIEWISH	9. THE EXCEPTION $67k (cum. $612k) 44 screens  REVIEW
10. THE HOUSE $1.7  (cum. $23.1)	10. ENDLESS POETRY  $28k NEW 2 screens
🔺 = new or added screens numbers from box office mojo

The Hero is doing well in limited release which is happy news. It's writer/director Brett Haley's follow up to his sleeper success I'll See You In My Dreams. He wrote it just for Sam Elliott, who turned in such good work in that breakthrough film. Elliott is excellent as a former movie star with cancer who is thrown by renewed interest in his career and a younger woman's (Laura Prepon) interest. 

In other important news, Wonder Woman will overtake Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 this coming week to become the year's second highest grosser (behind Disney's Beauty & The Beast karaoke) and the 3rd highest grosser in Warner Bros history just behind Chris Nolan's Batman movies and ahead of Harry Potter's finale!.

She's a wonder, Wonder Woman 🎵

What did you see this weekend? 

What Did You Watch This Weekend?

Blockbuster audiences flocked to Spider-Man: Homecoming this weekend to the tune of $117M (making it the second-highest opening for the character behind the largely reviled Spider-Man 3), while Sundance darling A Ghost Story had a strong limited debut in four theatres. Meanwhile, The Big Sick expanded further and continues to do gangbusters - it goes nationwide this coming week. Did you catch any of these three? Something else?

Have you started you mid-year catch up, like Spencer did with Gore Verbinski's A Cure For Wellness? I also recently caught up to Xavier Dolan's It's Only The End Of the World, which landed oh so quietly on US Netflix. Is there any hidden gem you've caught on any streaming platforms?

Tell us about your cinematic weekend!

Box Office: Beatriz at Dinner with Giant F***ing Robots

By Nathaniel R

The opening weekend for Transformers: The Last Knight was such a huge drop from the series past bows that they might want to use the last film's title The Age of Extinction rather than dumping more billions into keeping this franchise alive. Unless of course its overseas take continues to be ginormous. 

Weekend Box Office (June 23rd-25th)
W I D E	L I M I T E D
1. 🔺 TRANSFORMERS (5) $45.3 (cum. $69) NEW	1. 🔺 BEATRIZ AT DINNER $1.8 (cum. $3) 491 screens
2. CARS 3 $25.1 (cum. $99.8)	2.  PARIS CAN WAIT $612k (cum. $4.1)
3.  WONDER WOMAN $25.1 (cum. $318.3) Review | Top Ten |  Special	3. 🔺 THE BIG SICK $435k NEW 5 theaters
4. 🔺 47 METERS DOWN $7.4 (cum. $24.2)	4. 🔺 THE BEGUILED $240k NEW 4 theaters Sofia's Filmography | Cannes Bow
5. ALL EYEZ ON ME $5.8 (cum. $38.6)	5.  MY COUSIN RACHEL $200k (cum. $2.4) 163 screens On the 1952 version
6. THE MUMMY  $5.8 (cum. $68.5)	6. 🔺 THE EXCEPTION $138k (cum. $250) 48 screens  REVIEW
7. PIRATES (5) $5.2 (cum. $160)	7.🔺  MAUDIE $83k (cum. $???) 28 screens  REVIEW
8. ROUGH NIGHT $4.7 (cum. $16.6) Reviewish	8. 🔺  THE BAD BATCH $91k NEW 30 screens REVIEW
9. CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS $4.2 (cum. $65.7)	9. CHURCHILL $70k (cum. $1.1) 55 screens
10. GUARDIANS VOL. 2 $3 (cum. $380.2)  REVIEW	10. THE WEDDING PLAN $31k (cum. $1.3) 34 screens
🔺 = new or added screens numbers from box office mojo

In other box office news: Wonder Woman continues to show great legs... and before anyone calls us out for sexism, please know that that's common box office vernacular for insignificant percentage drops from week to week meaning the audience is really into you. This often happens with sleeper hits indicating that word of mouth is keeping them buzzing but it's much much rarer with films that open as big as Wonder Woman did. In fact, it's holding so well that it will beat the domestic grosses of DC stablemates Suicide Squad and Batman v Superman any day now which means only The Dark Knight films will have performed better for Warner Bros's DC family. 

In limited release Beatriz at Dinner starring Salma Hayek added 400+ screens to its tiny number and is performing quite well. Paris Can Wait, meanwhile has quietly made over $4 million now  -- impressive. The Big Sick, the new romantic comedy starring and written by Kumail Nanjiani, had the best weekend, though. Its reviews are spectacular and it now has the highest per screen average for any opener this year, taking in nearly half a million on just 5 screens. In a very crowded weekend for platforming films, the audience also showed some interest in The Beguiled but not much at all in The Bad Batch.

What did you see this weekend? 

Box Office: Cars 3 road blocks Wonder Woman 1... temporarily.

By Nathaniel R

Rule #1 of Hollywood: If it's making money, keep sequelizing it. Yes, even if it's as much of a lemon as Pixar's Cars franchise, basically the sole significant weight dragging down their otherwise blissful quality to quantity ratio (Sigh). But the world keeps buying so they'll keep selling. Cars won't have much time at the top of the charts, though, since another long-in-the-tooth franchise that's a blight on the cinemascape (Transformers) arrives Wednesday with its 5th installment. With so many lackluster sequels out this summer it's no wonder that people have been so thirsty for Wonder Woman, which at least has the benefit of being a "first" in multiple ways. Charts are after the jump...

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