Weekend Wrap-Up: Don’t Breathe Made the Box Office Gasp with $26.41 million

August 29, 2016

Don’t Breathe

Don’t Breathe topped the weekend box office chart earning $26.41 million. This was double its nearest competitor, Suicide Squad, and more than three times the other new release, Mechanic: Resurrection. The overall box office fell 12% from last weekend to $117 million. This is 33% higher than this weekend last year, which is really impressive for a year-over-year comparison. Year-to-date, 2016’s lead over 2015 has grown to $480 million or 6.5% at $7.81 billion to $7.33 billion.

Don’t Breathe easily won the weekend box office race scoring $26.41 million. The film cost less than $10 million to make, so the studio’s share of the opening weekend is enough to pay for the production budget and it will only need to cover its advertising budget the rest of the way. It could have good legs; its reviews do point to strong word-of-mouth. However, horror films historically plummet quickly after their opening weekend, plus there’s plenty of direct competition opening in the coming weeks. That said, even if the film doesn’t make $26 million during the rest of its run, it will still be seen as a success.

Suicide Squad was well back in second place with $12.24 million over the weekend for a total of $283.02 million after four weeks of release. It is on pace for $300 million, making it one of the biggest hits of the summer.

Kubo and the Two Strings rose to third place with $7.84 million over the weekend for a total of $24.86 million. The film’s per theater average is going to hurt its legs, but it should still hit roughly $40 million domestically.

Sausage Party was right behind with $7.53 million over the weekend for a total of $79.87 million after three. I think the film will get close enough to $100 million that Sony will give it a push over that milestone. Having three $100 million hits in the summer will be enough to calm shareholders, even if they didn’t have a monster hit.

Mechanic: Resurrection grabbed fifth place with $7.46 million during its opening weekend. Its reviews are just 21% positive, so it won’t stick around in theaters very long.

Pete’s Dragon just missed the top five with $7.44 million over the weekend for a total of $54.87 million after three weeks of releases. It will earn more than it cost to make domestically, so it just needs to do as well internationally to break even eventually.

War Dogs fell to seven place with $7.02 million over the weekend for a ten-day total of $27.52 million. This isn’t good, but it isn’t a disaster for this time of year.

The final sophomore stint film is Ben-Hur, which plummeted 59% to $4.56 million over the weekend for a total of $19.58 million. It will lose a sizable chunk of its theater count this Friday and quickly disappear soon after that.

- Weekend Box Office Chart

- Don’t Breathe Comparisons
- Mechanic: Resurrection Comparisons

Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, Ben-Hur, Sausage Party, Suicide Squad, War Dogs, Mechanic: Resurrection, Kubo and the Two Strings, Pete’s Dragon, Don’t Breathe