Box Office Wrap Up: Crazy Rich Box Office.
Warner Brothers took the top two spots as Crazy Rich Asians and The Meg delivered strong results over the weekend.
For the second straight week a WB film beat expectations and delivered a first place showing. Premiering on Wednesday, Crazy Rich Asians used early buzz and strong reviews to climb to the top spot over the weekend, edging out fellow Warner Brothers film The Meg. Together, the two combined for nearly half of the total box office.
This Week in Box Office History.
August continues to improve in comparison to last year, but in unspectacular fashion. The box office improved by 40% from 2017, which itself had been down 40% from 2016. It was down 14% from last week, as has generally been the trend since June. Overall, August will surely pass 2017’s total earnings of 658, as it sits at 605 million in earnings already. The problem is that, barring a miracle next weekend, 2018 will wind up being the second worst August since 2000.
Top Film Last Year: The Hitman’s Bodyguard.
Top Film Last Decade: Tropic Thunder.
Top Three Films.
Crazy Rich Asians broke the mold in several categories on its way to first place. It is the first Asian cast led Hollywood film in 25 years, the last being 1993’s Joy Luck Club. It’s opening of 25 million (34 when factoring in the early Wednesday release) is the best opening for a romantic comedy since Amy Schumer‘s Trainwreck in 2015. It narrowly missed making the top twenty for rom-com debuts. Coupled with great critical response and high audience scores, the film is poised for a solid domestic run.
Second Place got bitten by The Meg, which faded 53% from its big splash premier last week. It continues to dominate abroad, pulling down a world-wide box office cume of 315 million dollars.
Mark Wahlberg’s action flick, Mile 22, failed to go the extra mile with both critics and theater-goers. Its opened on the low side of average for the genre, taking in 13 million dollars en route to a third place finish. It got absolutely pasted in reviews, sitting at just 20% on Rotten Tomatoes. STX gambled on a wide release for what was eyed as a possible franchise starter. Some precedent exists for a soft opening to turn into a long-run win (just see how John Wick‘s fortunes improved based on word of mouth after launch) but Mile 22 isn’t lighting audiences on fire either.
The Rest.
The last wide release of the weekend, Alpha, wound up in a dog fight with Tom Cruise’s M:I Fallout. The prehistoric dog drama under performed domestically, snagging just 10 million against a 50 million dollar budget. It scored highly with critics and surveyed audiences, giving some hope that this dog may still see its day.
