By Chris Kavan - 08/26/19 at 12:48 AM CT
It was a good week for action as Angel Has Fallen becomes the first film in the trilogy to take the top spot at the box office while Hobbs & Shaw enjoyed a major milestone - in China. Meanwhile, the faith-based Overcomer exceeded expectations and found a space in the top three while things weren't so rosy for the horror Ready or Not, which fell outside the top five. The Lion King continued strong while a few other milestones were also celebrated. Ahead of Labor Day Weekend, things are still looking pretty good at the box office.
1)ANGEL HAS FALLEN
In a bit of a box office surprise, Angel Has Fallen become the first film in the Mike Banning trilogy (after Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen) to top the box office after an impressive $21.25 million opening - which came in just under the $21.6 million of London Has Fallen three years ago. Still, considering the case of most sequels, opening anywhere near the totals of previous entries should be considered a win. And moviegoers are obviously still happy to watch the exploits of Gerard Butler, as they awarded the film a solid "A-" Cinemascore. That audience was 51% male with 58% coming in 30 or older. There is little reason to think that Angel Has Fallen won't follow a similar path than London Has Fallen - meaning it should wind up with around $60 million domestic and about $200 million worldwide. With a reported $40 million budget, that would certainly put the film in the black and could very well mean Mike Banning will be back for a fourth round of saving the world/himself/the president on another action-packed thrill ride.
2)
GOOD BOYS
After posting an impressive opening weekend, Good Boys took a 45% hit to wind up in second place with $11.75 million, winding up with $42.05 million - more than double its $20 million budget. Impressing both critics and audiences, Good Boys is playing well for a raunchy, R-rated film starring a bunch of tweens. There is not reason to think this will play well through at least a good chunk of September and could easily wind up topping the $70 million mark While it's overseas total is just at $7 million, that little extra kick is more like the icing on the cake than anything else.
3)
OVERCOMER
I didn't give this faith-based drama much of a chance, but Overcomer lived up to its name, vastly over-performing from pre-weekend estimates with an impressive $8.2 million third-place opening. Director Alex Kendrick has found success in teh past with War Room and Fireproof and with an "A+" Cinemascore, it certainly played well with its target audience. If it has a similar run as Fireproof it could hit $30 million - though it will be interesting to see if it holds on to its audience or if it's more of a one-and-done deal. No matter the case, Overcomer has already exceeded expectation and anything from here on out will just be a nice, extra bonus.
4)
THE LION KING
The live-action/CGI version of The Lion King has another impressive hold, dipping a mere 35% in its sixth weekend out, adding another $8.15 million for a new $510.6 million total. That means is has passed the $504 million total of Beauty and the Beast to become the biggest musical of all time and Disney is also calling it their biggest in-house live-action movie of all time - even though it's all computer generated and should technically be an "animated" film. In terms of live action, it only trails Star Wars and the Avengers films for Disney - not bad company to keep. On the global scale, it has topped $1.5 billion - and now sits as the 9th biggest film of all time. All this on a reported $165 million budget means The Lion King is going to be one of the most successful films of 2019 - and continues to solidify Disney's hold on the box office.
5)
FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW
The Fast and Furious spinoff nearly topped the $150 million mark on the domestic front, but will have to settle for $147.7 million after a $8.14 million weekend. That represents a 42.6% drop as the actioner continues to hold up well. But the real news comes from overseas where Hobbs & Shaw finally opened in China, and posted an August-best $102 million opening - which also represents the second-best opening for a Fast and Furious film behind just The Fate of the Furious. That gives the film a $441.2 overseas total, for a $559 million global total. Given that opening, the film could wind up nearing the $800 million global total - with a domestic total nearing $165 million or so by the time it ends its run. It certainly looks to be the biggest non-Disney film of the year and, along with John Wick 3, shows that audiences are still more than happy to turn out for established franchises.
Outside the top five: Despite some good buzz and solid reviews, the horror film Ready or Not, which follows a new bride playing a deadly game of hide and seek with the eccentric family she has just joined, opened with just $7.55 million - giving it a $10.57 million total including its early opening. The film did earn a "B+" Cinemascore - on the higher end for horror films - and that included an audience that was 53% female with 79% coming in 35 or older. It does compare very similar to the $7 million opening for You're Next - and is also the widest opening for Fox Searchlight. We'll see if it can find an audience or if it's destined to become a future cult classic.
The Peanut Butter Falcon, perhaps the sweetest film of the year, expanded to 991 theaters and jumped from 20th to 12th place with $3 million and a new total of $3.72 million. It's probably not likely to do much more, but the uplifting drama has proved its point.
In other milestone news, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark crossed the $50 million mark with a $6 million weekend and new $50.48 million total. Toy Story 4 managed to cross $425 million with a $1.25 million weekend (17th place) and new $426.76 million total. Quentin Tarantion's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood hit $123.1 million - topping Inglorious Basterds $120.5 million to rise to second place all-time for the talented director.
Next week with Labor Day Weekend descending upon us and families taking advantage of the last summer sendoff, there is only one (potential) new wide release - the horror/mystery mix Don't Let Go.
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