Weekend Box Office (August 10 - 12, 2018)

by Sujit Chawla

THIS WEEKEND Much like the summer of 1975, sharks were back in fashion this weekend as The Meg powered past expectations to lead the box office.

Sometimes all audiences want is mindless, escapist fun and that's what Jason Statham and company provided with The Meg which opened to a powerful $44.5M, according to estimates, from 4,118 theaters for a per screen average of $10,806. Critics were on the poor side of mixed while audiences gave the film a B+ CinemaScore. Overseas the film took in an additional $97M, according to estimates, including a massive $50M from China. Its worldwide total stands at $141M. How soon before WB greenlights a sequel?

Mission: Impossible - Fallout had to settle for the runner-up position as it added another $20M this weekend, according to estimates, bringing its total up to $162M after three weekends. Disney's Christopher Robin fell 51% in its second weekend to an estimated $12M bringing its cume up to $50M. Look for a finale in the $75-80M range which is decent but disappointing for a Disney film over the last few years.

Quietly sneaking into theaters was the horror flick Slender Man which opened to a decent $11.3M, according to estimates, from 2,358 theaters for a per screen average of $4,792. That being said, critics demolished the film while audiences... also hated it giving it a D- CinemaScore.

Spike Lee returned with arguably his best received film in decades as BlacKkKLansman debuted with an estimated $10.8M from 1,512 theaters for a per screen average of $7,142, second best in the top 10. Critics were fawning over the film while audiences gave it an A- CinemaScore.

The rest of the top 10 looked familiar starting with the buddy comedy The Spy Who Dumped Me which fell 45.5% from its opening to an estimated $6.6M bringing its cume up to $24.5M. Look for a finale in the $35-40M range. Standing side-by-side yet again was the unlikely duo of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and The Equalizer 2 which took in an estimated $5.8M and $5.2M respectively, bringing their totals up to $103M and $89.6M after four weekends.

Hotel Transylvania took the ninth position with an estimated $5.1M bringing its total up to $147M after five weeks. Soon it'll pass the original's final gross but will likely come up a little short of part 2. Still, all three films falling within $20M of each other is pretty good. Rounding out the top 10 was Marvel's latest Ant-Man and the Wasp which added an estimated $4M bringing its cume up to $203M after six weeks.

Outside of the top 10 opening to extremely poor results was the rom-com Dog Days which only managed an estimated $2.6M this weekend from 2,442 theaters for a per screen average of $1,065. Critics were on the positive side of mixed while audiences enjoyed what they saw giving the film an A- CinemaScore. Throw in an additional $1M from its Wednesday opening and its cume now stands at $3.6M. Perhaps better marketing would have lifted it higher?

The top ten films grossed an estimated $126.1M which was up 32% from last year when Annabelle: Creation opened at number one with $35M; but off 18% from 2016 when Suicide Squad remained at #1 for a second weekend with $43.5M.

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Watch the trailer for Aquaman.


Be sure to check back on Thursday for a complete summary, including projections, for next weekend when Crazy Rich Asians (on Wednesday), Alpha and Mile 22 all open.

THIS WEEKEND'S TOP 10

Last Updated: August 1, 2018 at 12:00PM ET

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