By Chris Kavan - 08/19/19 at 12:16 AM CT
It was a good weekend for Universal as Good Boys debuted above expectations while Hobbs & Shaw managed to snag the follow-up spot. It was also continued good news for Disney and Sony as both The Lion King and Spider-Man: Far From Home continue their impressive runs. The bad news was for pretty much everyone else as Angry Birds 2 sputtered, 47 Meters Down: Uncaged couldn't crack the top five, Blinded by the Light barely made the top 10 and Where'd You Go, Bernadette? couldn't even do that. A predicted, a crowded box office means more losers than winners, and this was certainly no exception.
1) GOOD BOYS
The Superbad for this generation managed a feat that has only been done one other time this year - a wholly original film topped the box office. Us was the other film to do so back in March. It was also the first R-rated film to top the box office since 2016 when The Boss did so in April of that year. With a $21 million opening, along with great critical and audience reception, this seems like one that will play well in the coming weeks. The film stars a trio of young talent: Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams and Brady Noon who play three middle school students who are on the case of a missing drone as well as trying to prepare for their first kissing party. It also more than earns that R rating. But audiences were happy to award it a "B+" Cinemascore - with 52% coming in male and 59% coming in 25 or older. With little in the way of comedies on the horizon, Good Boys should enjoy a nice run and, making comparisons to previous comedies like Superbad and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Good Boys has a good shot at a $70-$80 million total in the end. The film also helped Universal become the second studio, behind Disney of course, to hit the $1 billion mark for the year.
2)
FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW
Universal lost to... Universal as former champion Hobbs & Shaw had to settle for second place with $14.1 million, giving the Fast and Furious spinoff a new $133.7 million total. That represents a 44% drop, which is still a decent hold, and lines up right along previous films in the series. Thanks to a $15 million francise-best debut in South Korea, the film topped $300 million overseas, for $303 million total and fast approaching the $500 million worldwide mark with $437 million and counting. We'll see if the dynamic duo can catch John Wick 3 ($171 million) on the domestic front. As the last "big" movie of the summer season, it certainly has a good shot at that mark. It will also be interesting to see how much China likes this one - and if it will be enough to boost it to $700 million worldwide in the end.
3)
THE LION KING
Disney's Lion King held strong in the third-place spot, dipping 41.1% and adding another $11.9 million to its domestic total, which now stands at $496.1 million. It will cross $500 million in the next day or two. It also passed Finding Dory on the all time domestic chart, landing in the 14th place spot. The even bigger story continues to be the film's massive overseas total, which, including the $33.8 million it added this weekend, now stands at nearly $1 billion on its own - $939.1 million - with a global total of $1.435 billion - passing Avengers: Age of Ultron to land in the 9th place on that all-time list. By next weekend it also has a good chance to pass Beauty and the Beast ($504 million) to become the biggest musical (live-action or animated) of all time. It is also on the fast track to pass both Furious 7 ($1.517 billion) and The Avengers ($1.519 billion) on the global market to become Disney's fourth-highest grossing film of all time. No doubt this is a monster hit and another huge win for Disney.
4)
THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE 2
The only other new wide release to hit the top five was Angry Birds 2, though even its early release couldn't help it too much. The film made $10.5 million for the weekend and $16.23 million including its early Tuesday opening. However, that total is much less than the $36 million opening for the first Angry Birds film. Much like The LEGO Movie 2 and Secret Life of Pets 2, it seems Angry Birds 2 has also fallen victim to sequel fatigue. It also received a "B+" Cinemascore with an audience breakdown that was 51% female and 53% 25 or older. While the $65 million price tag is reasonable for an animated sequel, this one is obviously not going to live up to expectations. It seems The Lion King still has the family crowd well in hand and I have a feeling $50 million may be the best this one will be able to muster - if that.
5)
SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK
The horror film managed to hold off 47 Meters Down: Uncaged for a spot in the top five, dipping nearly 52% and adding $10.05 million for a new $40.21 million total. That is a typical second-week horror drop and considering the film carries just a $25 million price tag, it's looking like Scary Stories is going to be a least a minor hit. I still like the look of this one overall, and it did manage to hold off a new film so it has some staying power. It has also earned $14 million overseas for a $55 million worldwide total. All told, while Scare Stories isn't going to break huge, it's another example of a low-budget horror film doing well enough to warrant more of these kind of films in the future. I don't see the market for low-budget horror drying up anytime soon.
Outside the top five: Taking the sixth spot, 47 Meters Down: Uncaged brought in $9 million, just under the $11.2 million the first film brought in back in 2017 and well short of the studios expected $15-$16 million opening. The film earned a typical horror "C+ Cinemascore. The first film went on to gross $44.3 million. This sequel might not hit that mark, but at a $12 million budget, it doesn't have to hit it out of the park to remain profitable.
The Blinded by the Light, the feel-good film based around the music of Bruce Springsteen, just managed a spot in the top 10 with $4.45 million. While critics seemed happy and audiences awarded it a fine "A-" Cinemascore, it just couldn't find a big audience to celebrate it.
Faring even worse, the Cate Blanchette globe-trotting adventure Where'd You Go, Bernadette? couldn't crack the top 10 at all, with a mere $3.45 million in 11th place. The film was not well-received by critics at all and the audience that did show up only awarded it a meh "B" Cinemascore. This one is likely to barely survive August before it leaves theaters.
In milestone news, Spider-Man: Far from Home added $2.75 million (12th place) to give it a new $376.6 million, crossing the $375 million mark as well as passing the domestic total of Spider-Man 2 ($373 million). But, even more impressive, Far from Home hit $1.102 billion worldwide - passing Skyfall ($1.08 billion) to become Sony's highest-grossing global film of all time. Not bad at all for the web-slinger.
Next week delivers the horror film Ready or Not, the action film Angel Has Fallen and the faith-based drama Overcomer.
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