Weekend Box Office: Hitman's Bodyguard Repeats on Slowest Weekend in 15 Years

By Chris Kavan - 08/27/17 at 07:24 PM CT

Boy, did anyone else see that Floyd Mayweater vs. Conor McGregor fight? I tell you, I was worried it was going to be a blowout, but it managed to go (almost) the distance. Why I am I talking about boxing instead of the box office? Well, Fathom Entertainment released the fight in to select theaters, where the match brought in $2.598 million. And while it isn't a movie, in terms of the weekend box office, it would have ranked 9th place - ahead of the debut of Birth of the Dragon ($2.5 million). No way to sugar coat things - the last weekend in August was a disaster. At just $49 million, the top 12 had the worst August weekend in 20 years and the worst total in 15 years (since late September 2001 - $43.5 million). No big movies opened with Leap! the only new entry to even make the top 5 and, to make matters worse, next weekend looks no better as there is only one new film opening wide over the long Labor Day weekend.

1) THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD

The buddy comedy with Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson took a pretty big 53% hit in its second weekend, but, despite the hit, still took the top spot at the box office for the second weekend in a row. The $10.05 million gives the film a new total of $39.6 million. If actuals come in lower (which is a distinct possibility) and Bodyguard dips below double digits, it will be the first time since 2015 (War Room, $9.4 million) that a film is in the top spot under $10 million. Still, Bodyguard is performing well, sitting at nearly $40 million on a $30 million budget and it looks to have another solid weekend ahead of it. The film has a good chance of at least doubling its budget and finishing at around the $60 million mark. With no big comedies on the way, it should hold out in the long run as it slowly loses theaters.

2) ANNABELLE: CREATION

Also sticking to its second-place position, Annabelle: Creation also dipped 53%, bringing in $7.35 million. The horror sequel/prequel has took in $77.88 million, with another $137.2 million overseas, for a worldwide total of $216 million. The $15 million film is still looking at a total of nearly $90 million - six times its budget (not even including foreign grosses), thus I think this cinematic universe is in very good hands. We'll see this Conjuring Universe will have as much luck with The Nun, but chances are we're going to see plenty more horror in the near future.

3) LEAP!

The only new film to break in to the top five was the animated Leap! But it wasn't exactly good news, as the film could only bring in $5.01 million - with a rather anemic $1,197 per-theater average. Still, opening audiences seemed happy enough, giving the film an "A" Cinemascore. It's not likely going to have much more of an impact in the U.S., though the film is already a decent hit overseas, where it has brought in $58 million. Leap! has joined a plethora of underwhelming animated releases that not even the major studios could avoid as films like Cars 3, The Emoji Movie and The Nut Job 2 all found a bit of trouble breaking out at the box office.

4) WIND RIVER

I should have included this on the weekend preview, but I wasn't aware The Weinstein Company was going to have such an aggressive expansion for Wind River. The film added another 1,401 theaters (for a total of 2095) and jumped from 10th to 4th place (a 48.4% increase) with a $4.4 million weekend. Wind River follows an FBI agent (Elizabeth Olsen) who teams up with a veteran game tracker (Jeremy Renner) after a murder occurs on a Native American reservation. The film has earned $9.84 million thus far and, with just an $11 million budget, Wind River is shaping up to be a minor hit but, considering the shape of the box office, a minor win is pretty good at this point.

5) LOGAN LUCKY

The comedy/crime caper from Steven Soderbergh managed to stick in the top five, dropping 42.5% and adding $4.36 million to its total, which now stands at $15 million. The $29 million film is going to be lucky to hit $25 million before it exits theaters. Despite its impressive pedigree - both in front of and behind the camera - Logan Lucky just isn't finding the same success as Baby Driver and might have had better luck with a better release date and stronger marketing.


Outside the top five: Birth of the Dragon, the Bruce Lee biopic, was a non-starter with $2.5 million (8th place). Out of all the films, this one probably took the biggest hit from the pay-per-view event of the year but even without the fight eating into its audience, Birth of the Dragon was never going to be a huge hit. BH Tilt might be making a name for themselves by providing some more niche titles beyond horror films, but this was a bit too niche for its own good.

The faith-based All Saints opened will outside the top 10, down in 15th place with just a $1.55 million debut. It did earn an "A-" Cinemascore, but it's not going to help its cause. Still, the budget is only $2 million for the film, so it won't have to do too much in order to be mildly profitable.

The Emoji Movie crossed the $75 million mark with a $2.35 million weekend (9th place) with a new $76.43 million, meaning the $50 million animated has posted an OK though not outstanding total. It has earned $144 million worldwide as well.

Next week looks to be another very slow weekend as the only new wide release will be Tulip Fever, and it's not likely to draw a huge crowd.

Comments

Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
  
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
  
Are you sure you want to delete this blog?