By Chris Kavan - 08/14/16 at 11:33 PM CT
It was another win for DC's villainous heroes but, like so many films this year, it took quite a big hit over its opening weekend. In new films, the R-rated animated Sausage Party was the big winner, coming in well ahead of most forecasts while Pete's Dragon scored with critics but didn't entice audiences. As for Meryl Streep, it was another case of well-received but somewhat disappointing results. It was good news overall as the box office was up 16% compared to the same weekend last year as August continues to be a strong month for Hollywood.
1) SUICIDE SQUAD
Those devious devils of DC may have had a huge opening but like Star Trek and Jason Bourne before them, they also suffered a pretty dramatic second-weekend drop. The ensemble piece took a big 67.3% hit in its second weekend holding just a bit better than both Man of Steel (67.9%) and Batman v. Superman (69.1%). It still managed to have the biggest second weekend in August with its $43.77 million (topping Guardians of the Galaxy at $42.1 million). It now sits at $222.87 million with a global box office of $465.37 million. Even if the DC films continue to be disappointing (especially compared to the rock-solid Marvel films), you can't call them failures as Suicide Squad now sits at the 11th spot for 2016 in the world-wide market and seventh among live-action films. Expect it to continue to climb the charts as it will take a run at $275 million domestic with around $600 million global likely when all is said and done.
2)
SAUSAGE PARTY
The raunchy, R-rated animated Sausage Party came in way ahead of expectations. The ensemble comedy featuring sentient food who fight back against humanity when they realize their fate of being consumed features a huge, talented cast and, it turns out, a pretty huge audience backing it up. With $33.6 million in the bank, Sausage Party came in just ahead of Ted 2 ($33.5 million). But, budget-wise Sausage Party is already way ahead as Ted 2 was a $68 million venture, while the animated film only has a $19 million budget. Even if it falls off hard, it's going to make a fare bit of money. Audiences gave it just a so-so "B" Cinemascore but critics seemed impressed as well, as it stands at a very nice 82% on Rotten Tomatoes. That led to the biggest opening for an R-rated animated film and the biggest opening for an animated film in August. If it can keep on track, it may very well become the first R-rated animated film to hit $100 million. Sausage Party's big opening will hopefully lead to some other risk-taking endeavors in the future because in a summer filled with super heroes, reboots and sequels - sometimes you need something fresh to remind audiences that something new and different can be just as fun and exciting as the established base.
3)
PETE'S DRAGON
Speaking of reboots, Disney's attempt to relive the 1977 classic came up a bit short. Pete's Dragon opened to $21.5 million, which was at least ahead of The BFG ($18.7 million). Both films also had good critical ratings and audiences liked them too (BFG hit "A-" while Pete's Dragon scored a solid "A". While this isn't going to be a huge hit ala Maleficent or Cinderella, but it's also not a complete loss as the film comes in with a relatively light $65 million budget. The breakdown was 53% female and 33% under 12, which mean it drew a bigger family audience than The BFG which will hopefully in turn lead to more longevity. The big question will be how if fares up against Kubo and the Two Strings next weekend. At least families won't have a lack of options as the summer winds down. As for Pete's Dragon, it may not be the biggest Disney live-action reboot of all time, but it should keep the gravy train rolling for the time being.
4)
JASON BOURNE
After its big second-weekend drop, Jason Bourne evened out with a much lighter 39.2% drop in its third weekend. It dropped from second to fourth place but managed to bring in $13.6 million for a new total of $126.7 million, crossing both the $125 million mark and topping its $120 million budget. The film is still looking at a likely $150 million total as worldwide it is approaching the $250 million mark. It has passed the original Bourne Identity ($121.66 million) to move up to third on the Bourne series list but the chances of it reaching the $176.2 million of the Bourne Supremacy is probably out of the question. It will hit $150 million, but will stall shortly after.
5)
BAD MOMS
It was a great weekend for Bad Moms, which had the best hold of any film in the top 12 with just a 18.2% drop. The $11.4 million the film brought in was enough to give the ensemble comedy a new $71.4 million total. It will hit $75 million by next weekend and should wind up about 4x its reported $20 million budget before it exits theaters. Considering how well its legs are going, even $100 million isn't out of the question.
Outside the top five: Meryl Streep's latest Florence Foster Jenkins found itself with a great critical reception but a rather limited audience response with $6.58 million (8th place). That lines up almost exactly with last August's Ricki and the Flash ($6.6 million). It earned a much better "A-" Cinemascore, however. The audience was 61% female and a full 97% over 25. Adult audiences do tend to support good films over time, so we'll see if that is the case with this one.
Next week sees the release of Kubo and the Two Strings, the war-time comedy War Dogs and the Ben-Hur remake.
Comments
