1. Deadpool & Wolverine– $15.1M/$599.5M
After six weeks, five of which have been in at #1, Deadpool & Wolverine had its smallest drop yet at just 17%. The film earned $15M over the three-day weekend and an estimated $19M through the Labor Day holiday. This is likely to be its last gasp at the top with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice expected to make a big splash. Marvel’s sequel now has $1.26B worldwide.
2. Alien: Romulus– $9.3M/$88.7M
At $285M worldwide, Alien: Romulus has surpassed the $240M of 2017’s Alien: Covenant. However, it remains far short of the $403M of 2012’s Prometheus.
3. It Ends With Us– $7.42M/$133.7M
4. Reagan (review)- $7.4M
In somewhat surprising news, Reagan, starring Dennis Quaid as former President Ronald Reagan, opened with a strong $7.4M in 2754 theaters, giving it a higher per-site-average than It Ends With Us. Over the Labor Day holiday the number grows to $9.2M. The film paints Reagan as more than just a conservative icon but as a man on a holy mission, and it’s clear the audience was receptive to that. While critical reviews have been tough, the Rotten Tomatoes audience score is a whopping 98% and it has an A- Cinemascore. In short, if you already love Ronald Reagan you made this movie event viewing.
5. Twisters– $7.1M/$258M
6. Blink Twice– $4.68M/$15.3M
7. The Forge– $4.6M/$14.3M
8. Despicable Me 4-$4M/$354.1M
9. Afraid– $3.7M
Sony Pictures quietly released the AI horror film Afraid into 3000 theaters and clearly audiences were afraid to give it a try. The $3.7M debut is a low for Blumhouse, who are generally reliable when it comes to strong opening weekends. But this one wasn’t heavily promoted and didn’t even screen for press ahead of time, which is always a bad sign. The film stars John Cho, Katherine Waterston, and Havana Rose Liu as the voice of a smart home AI that becomes dangerously obsessed with its host family.
10. Inside Out 2– $2.7M/$650M
In other releases this week: The Tyrese Gibson actioner 1992 (review here) opened to just $1.3M in 875 locations. That’s the lowest major opening for Gibson, who is accustomed to huge openers as part of the Fast & Furious franchise.
After just two weeks, The Crow‘s fathers have been singed on its way out of the top 10. The long-awaited but clearly unwanted reboot earned just $1.8M over the weekend and $8.1M domestically. Globally it’s doing a bit better with $13M.
The Casey Affleck/Laurence Fishburne deep space thriller Slingshot (review here) was released in 845 theaters by Bleecker Street and earned $485K.
