Weekend Estimates: Sully Beats Trio of New Releases

September 18, 2016

Sully

As expected, this weekend’s three new wide releases couldn’t budge Sully from the top of the chart with the Tom Hanks/Clint Eastwood drama down a very respectable 37% in its second weekend to $22 million, for a total of $70.5 million to date. Two films, Blair Witch and Bridget Jones’s Baby both had aspirations to challenge Sully for the title, but had to settle for second and third place.

Blair Witch is projected to earn $9.6 million this weekend, well down from predictions (including ours) that had it coming close to Sully for the weekend. That figure is hardly a disaster for a film that cost only $10 million to make, but doesn’t bode well for a continuation of the franchise, at least as theatrical releases.

Bridget Jones’s Diary was expected to top $10 million, but will have to settle for $8.24 million or so domestically. Although that’s obviously a disappointment for Universal, the studio will be more than consoled by the fact that the film had the best opening day for a romantic comedy film of all time in the United Kingdom and amassed an estimated $29.9 million internationally this weekend.

In fourth place at home, Snowden starts out with a projected $8.02 million for Open Road, the distributor that released Oscar-winner Spotlight last year. Oliver Stone’s biopic isn’t getting the kind of reviews that it would need to be a serious contender this year, but could have a decent run as Awards Season hots up.

Other notable new releases this weekend include Hillsong: Let Hope Rise, which is set to earn about $1.3 million from 816 venues for a fairly subdued start. The Beatles: Eight Days a Week is projected to earn $772,467 from 165 theaters for an average of $4,682. That number is better than it appears, because 80 screens only had one-night event screenings (and earned $156,844), while the other 85 screens played regular engagements, and earned a projected $615,632, for an average of $7,243. Finally, Mr. Church, which marks Eddie Murphy’s return to theaters after a four-year break, is projected to post a disappointing $407,151 from 354 locations, for an average of $1,150.

- Weekend estimates

- Blair Witch comparison chart
- Bridget Jones’s Baby comparison chart
- Snowden comparison chart
- Sully comparison chart

Bruce Nash,

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Bridget Jones’s Baby, Hillsong: Let Hope Rise, Snowden, The Beatles: Eight Days a Week, Sully, Blair Witch, Mr. Church, Tom Hanks, Eddie Murphy, Clint Eastwood, Oliver Stone