SATURDAY AM: Refresh for updates Blame the lack of want-to-see fare as well as kids returning to school, but this penultimate weekend of summer is coming in at $93.4M for all movies, -33% from last weekend. That’s the third lowest weekend of this summer after the first weekend of June/post Memorial Day frame ($66.3M) and the first weekend of May ($73.9M). Compared to the same weekend a year ago when Sony’s Gran Turismo led the box office, this Friday-Sunday is +3%. There’s nothing to worry about, as Warner Bros.’ Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice is going to pump the marketplace with Viagra post Labor Day with at least an $80M start; that pic’s global press tour thundering loud now with stops in Mexico City and an NYC junket rolling into its Venice Film Festival premiere next week.
Disney is seeing their MCU title Deadpool & Wolverine take its fourth weekend at No. 1 (though not in a row) with $17.8M (-41%), but in its fifth weekend.
Disney/20th Century Studios Alien: Romulus isn’t far behind in second with $16M, -61%, which is a much better hold and second frame than the previous 2017 installment, Alien: Covenant ($10.6M, -71%).
The Ryan Reynolds-Hugh Jackman is easily triumphing over new entries Blink Twice ($7.1M opening), the disastrous $50M reboot of The Crow via Lionsgate $4.5M-$5M, and Sony AFFIRM’s $5M Kendrick Brothers movie The Forge with $6.4M.
Despite solid reviews on Rotten Tomatoes (78% Certified Fresh) and a B- CinemaScore, Channing Tatum is seeing another dud at the summer box office in Blink Twice after Fly Me to the Moon‘s crash ($9.4M opening, $20.4M final domestic). outside his ensemble work in Deadpool & Wolverine. Clearly, it’s about the right marriage to material for post-Covid he saw wins with the Sandra Bullock adventure comedy Lost City ($30.4M opening, $105.3M domestic final) and his beefcake Dog from MGM ($14.9M opening, $61.7M final domestic). The audience response to Blink Twice is just all over the place with Rotten Tomatoes audience meter at a low 68%, and a 74% positive PostTrak. One rival producer texted me over the weekend, “Blink Twice was simply bad!”. So sad, as there needs to be more fare for female moviegoers in the marketplace, Blink Twice bringing in 56% women. It Ends With Us remains the draw for women in its third weekend with $11.85M and a running cume of $120.8M by Sunday in what will be Blake Lively’s highest grossing movie ever at the domestic box office (beating Green Lantern‘s $116.6M) outside her cameo in D&W.
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FRIDAY AM: Two wide entries held previews Thursday, with the Zoë Kravitz-directed thriller Blink Twice and Lionsgate/Edward R. Pressman presentation’s The Crow filing $820K and $650K in previews, respectively. Neither is expected to move the needle this weekend with single-digit openings.
What’s a bit more shocking is that Amazon MGM Studios’ $20M Blink Twice doesn’t do more with Channing Tatum and solid reviews at 78% certified fresh on Rottten Tomatoes. Despite critical support, the sex thriller got three stars from PostTrak audiences Thursday night and a 50% definite recommend. It’s in better shape than the The Crow, which received 1 star. OMG, Lionsgate, are we looking at another D+ CinemaScore? Quorum tracking Friday morning believes Blink Twice has a shot at a $10M-$13M opening.
Meanwhile, Sony Affirm’s faith-based The Forge received five stars from its moviegoers and an 88% definite recommend, all of whom spent $600K Thursday night off showtimes that began at 2 p.m. The pic is booked at 1,800 locations. The Alex Kendrick-directed movie only cost $5M before P&A. Sony turned the Kendrick Brothers’ War Room into a Labor Day win back in 2015, teeing the pic off the week prior; it ultimately grossed close to $68M. No sign The Forge is going to emulate that.
Other than that, this weekend will go to one of two Disney movies: Alien: Romulus or Deadpool & Wolverine, the former expected to have the edge over the latter with $18M to $17M. Alien: Romulus ends the week with $56.3M at 3,885 locations. It was close on Thursday between the two, with the Fede Alvarez-directed space horror pic doing $2.6M to the Marvel Studios movie’s $2.5M at 3,960 theaters. Alien: Romulus‘ first week is 20% ahead of 2017’s Alien: Covenant ($46.8M), but 18% behind that of the highes-grossing Alien movie, 2012’s Prometheus ($68.6M). Covenant ended its run at $74.2M, while Prometheus went all the way to $126.2M stateside. No reviews yet for The Forge, but the Rotten Tomatoes Popcorn Meter says 100%.
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D&W ends Week 4 with $42M and a running total of $558.8M. It hasn’t caught last summer’s Barbie, which ended her domestic runway at $636.2M.
It Ends with Us from Sony and Wayfarer Studios, ends its second week with $35.2M after a $2.2M Thursday at 3,739 sites. Running total is $108.9M.
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Fathom Events’ Coraline 15th anniversary grossed $1.3M Thursday for first week of $16M, running total of $19.1M at 1,535 locations. The movie’s lifetime cume $101.4M. Wow, Laika.
Universal/Warner Bros’ Twisters, available to watch in the home on digital rental or sell-through, is still a draw on the big screen, taking fifth place at 3,483 theaters with a fifth week of $13.8M, running total of $242.4M after a $776K Thursday.
The post ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Pulling Feathers Off ‘The Crow’ & Putting ‘Blink Twice’ To Sleep As Summer Winds Down – Saturday AM Box Office appeared first on Deadline.
