1. Weapons– $10.4M/$132.6M
To get an idea how weak the box office has been this summer, Weapons retakes the top spot in its fourth week after losing it to Netflix’s sing-a-long weekend release of KPop Demon Hunters. Zach Cregger’s hit horror scored another $10.4M across three days and $12M when including the holiday, for $132M domestic and $235M globally.
2. Jaws– $8.1M
Picking up on the theme, Universal’s 50th anniversary re-release of Spielberg classic Jaws beat all new releases with $8.1M. Dude, it beat a Darren Aronofsky thriller starring Austin Butler. That’s both awesome and sad at the same time.
3. Caught Stealing (review)- $7.8M
Speaking of which, Aronofsky’s fast-paced crime thriller Caught Stealing got thrown out the plate in its debut, earning just $7.8M for the weekend and $9.5M over the holiday. Ugh. Chewed up by a fifty-year-old shark. The film’s star power with Austin Butler, Zoe Kravitz, Matt Smith, and more didn’t help it much, and the same will be for The Roses further down the line. Reviews were solid with 84% critical and 86% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, but this never really felt like a summer movie, did it? Probably should’ve been released around October or November.
4. Freakier Friday– $6.6M/$80.5M
5. The Roses (review)- $6.2M
Jay Roach’s reimagining The Roses opened with a divorce-worthy $6.2M, despite the promise of Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman warring comically. That’s lower than the 1989 original The War of the Roses which opened with $9.8M with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. This was always going to be a tough sell. A divorce comedy where the participants literally are trying to kill one another is pretty dark, even with two of the most likeable actors around doing it. Reviews weren’t stellar, with critics giving it 65% on RT.
6. The Fantastic Four: First Steps– $4.9M/$264.7M
7. The Bad Guys 2- $4.6M/$72.9M
8. Superman– $2.5M/$351M
9. Nobody 2– $1.89M/$20.1M
10. The Naked Gun– $1.82M/$50.8M
Also…Legendary took a long time finding a distributor for remake The Toxic Avenger (review), and the results don’t seem to have been worth it. The Peter Dinklage-starring remake of the Troma classic earned just $1.2M in 1995 theaters.
The Andre Holland, DeWanda Wise, and Nicole Beharie romance Love, Brooklyn (review) had the best per site average of the weekend, earning $49K from its single New York-based release by Greenwich Entertainment. We’ll see if the high numbers continue as the film expands.
