Box Office: Here "Mamma Mia!" goes again, to #2 on the charts

by Nathaniel R

In a surprising turn of events Mamma Mia! 2 couldn't inch past Equalizer 2 despite a much higher-grossing preceding film. The absence of Meryl versus the presence of Denzel musta tipped it because it was super close with a 34/35 million battle! Much closer than last time around when Mamma Mia! faced off with The Dark Knight on its own opening weekend back in 2008 for a 27/158 million opening weekend.

In limited release theaters were packed for two new films, the fashion doc McQueen, and the new police brutality drama Blindspotting, while A24's deeply felt and delightfully awkward Eighth Grade had a great second weekend.  What did you see this weekend?

Weekend Box Office Estimates (July 20th-22nd)
W I D E 800+ screens	L I M I T E D excluding prev. wide
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again	Eighth Grade
1.🔺 THE EQUALIZER 2 $35.8 *NEW*	1. 🔺 THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS $1.4 on 332 screens (cum. $4.5) REVIEW
2. 🔺MAMMA MIA: HERE WE GO AGAIN $34.3 *NEW* REVIEW	2. 🔺 LEAVE NO TRACE  $895k on 361 screens (cum. $3.6) TRAILER DISCUSSION
3.  HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3 $23.1 (cum. $91)	3.  🔺EIGHTH GRADE $794k on 33 screens (cum. $1.1)
4. ANT-MAN AND THE WASP $16.1 (cum. $164.6)	4.  🔺 BLINDSPOTTING $332k on 14 screens *NEW*
5. THE INCREDIBLES 2 $11.5 (cum. $557.3)	5. 🔺 DON'T WORRY HE WON'T GET FAR ON FOOT $265k on 62 screens (cum. $380k)

Sorry to Bother You	McQueen
6. JURASSIC WORLD FALLEN KINGDOM  $11 (cum. $383.9)  REVIEW	6. 🔺 SANJU $220k on 112 screens (cum. $7.6)
7. SKYSCRAPER $10.9 (cum. $46.7)	7. RBG  $168k on 116 screens  (cum. $13.1)
8. THE FIRST PURGE $4.9 (cum. $60.1)	8. WHITNEY  $118k on 117 screens (cum. $2.7)
9. 🔺 UNFRIENDED DARK WEB  $3.4 *NEW*	9. 🔺 MCQUEEN $96k on 4 screens *NEW* REVIEW
10. SORRY TO BOTHER YOU  $2.8 (cum. $10.2)  REVIEW	10. SOORMA $78k on 50 screens (cum. $328K)
🔺 = new or expanding its theater count numbers (in millions unless otherwise noted) from box office mojo

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (Review)

by Jorge Molina

Almost ten years ago to the date, Mamma Mia! opened in theaters. The jukebox musical based on the theater phenomenon that at the same time was based on the biggest hits of Europop sensation ABBA went on to gross almost 600 million dollars globally, and became the highest grossing live action musical ever. That movie seems to be divisive among fans of the genre because of the fluffy, silly and often nonsensical joy that poured out of the screens (you can read about the emotional connection I personally have with the movie here). 

Ten years and a Cher later, Donna and her Dynamos make a return to the island of Kalokairi with a sequel that doubles down on everything that made adamant fans of the first one fell in love with it, and made the skeptics roll their eyes...

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Knowing ABBA, Knowing Cher

By Glenn Dunks

This week is the opening weekend of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, almost exactly ten years to the date of the original 2008 adaptation of the ever-popular West End/Broadway musical that was the highest grossing live-action musical of all time until Beauty and the Beast came along. Coming on the heels of equally feel-good The Greatest Showman and ahead of Mary Poppins Returns, 2018 is proving to be a very cheesy good time at the movies if you’re a fan of these old fashioned singfests.

I adored the movie, writing in my review:

While it is very easy to dismiss, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again shifts from strange and award to daggy and deliriously dumb so easily that I didn’t even notice I had found myself smiling along to every goofy moment.

It will come as no surprise that the one and only Cher is a blast in her glorified cameo singing ABBA classic “Fernando” to Andy Garcia, which I think means he was a soldier in some war in Mexico? Who cares? It’s amazing! She shares an ability with ABBA themselves for wringing every ounce of drama and pathos out of lyrics that many would (incorrectly) label as frothy or silly or melodramatic. ABBA’s music can be all of these things, of course, but never without a wink to let us know they’re aware of it. Cher sounds natural singing these songs, her voice slotting in perfectly having gained plenty of experience with disco and pop at the same time that ABBA reigned over the music charts (fun fact: more Australians watched the group sing “Fernando” live on national television than they did the moon landing, how about that!).

And to top it all off, we just learnt that Cher will be releasing an entire album of ABBA covers! There’s been no word yet on when it will come out but, she has teased that her renditions have been done “in a different way”. Beginning now with Mamma Mia! – her first on-screen role since Burlesque and just her second film musical – Cher will be everywhere over the next twelve months with this new album, a new tour and her own jukebox musical, The Cher Show, on the way. Her "Fernando" has even charted with Billboard.

Which ABBA hits do you want Queen Cher to perform on her new album?

While it is very easy to dismiss, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again shifts from strange and awkward to daggy and deliriously dumb so easily that I didn’t even notice I had found myself smiling along to every goofy moment. There’s Lily James cartwheeling through an orchard for some reason, and wow suddenly there is a flotilla of Greeks sailing across the Mediterranean to the beat of Dancing Queen. Donna very inappropriately sings I Kissed the Teacher with a useless microphone at her Oxford College graduation. Seyfreid wears an ugly poncho for half the movie and Colin Firth wears satin pants so tight you can see what got him into this whole mystery pregnancy fiasco in the first place. Christine Baranski is still a lush and Julie Walters still can’t dance. It’s a hoot.

Mamma Mia! And Me: How the Musical Changed My Life a Decade Ago

by Jorge Molina

Today Mamma Mia! turns a decade old. The film opened exactly ten years ago, on July 18th, 2008. And this weekend, what is perhaps the most unexpected sequel in the franchise factory that Hollywood has become will open.  

I could write a piece about some sort of legacy, or about what a monstrous hit it was when it opened (becoming the highest grossing live action musical ever, and the highest grossing movie in history in the U.K. at the time). I could attempt an oral history on why I firmly believe this was the most fun any group of actors has ever had on set, or an objective reexamination on why this silly and often senseless movie works so effortlessly.

But I want to get a little more personal. Because ten years ago, that movie changed the way I looked at myself and my life...

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What did you see this weekend? And who wins next weekend?

by Nathaniel R

Weekend Box Office Estimates (July 13th-15th)
W I D E 800+ screens	L I M I T E D excluding prev. wide
Hotel Transylvania 3	Three Identical Strangers
1.🔺 HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3 $44.1 *NEW*	1. 🔺 THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS $1.1 on 170 screens (cum. $2.5) REVIEW
2. ANT-MAN AND THE WASP $28.8 (cum. $132.8)	2. 🔺 LEAVE NO TRACE  $1.1 on 311 screens (cum. $2.1) TRAILER DISCUSSION
3.🔺 SKYSCRAPER $25 *NEW*	3.  WHITNEY $535k on 408 screens (cum. $2.3)
4. INCREDIBLES 2 $16.2 (cum. $535.8)	4.  SANJU $500k on 223 screens (cum. $7.1)
5. JURASSIC WORLD FALLEN KINGDOM $15.5 (cum. $363.2) REVIEW	5. 🔺 EIGHTH GRADE $252 k on 4 screens *NEW *

Hotel Transylvania 3 had a strong opening weekend but Skyscraper, the other big new release not so much. I do personally wonder if Dwayne Johnson is a bit oversaturated in the market. This is his third action film to open in theaters within a seven months stretch beginning with Jumanji (a massive hit) on Dec 20th than Rampage on April 13th (which didn't quite hit $100 million domestically) and now Skyscraper on July 13th which opened weaker than Rampage. Maybe three movies of a similar genre from any star in a six month period is a bad idea... 

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