Weekend Estimates: Dunkirk, Girls Trip Post Impressive Debuts

July 23, 2017

Dunkirk

Dunkirk will easily top the chart at the box office this weekend, with a $50.5 million opening weekend from 3,720 theaters that’s broadly in line with expectations, and also remarkably similar to the first weekend for Interstellar, which opened with $47.5 million from 3,561 theaters back in 2014. It seems that the film has reached the Christopher Nolan fan base, but not extended much beyond that. Remarkably, Pearl Harbor remains the record holder for biggest opening weekend for a World War II movie, with the $59 million it earned back in 2001 (equivalent to roughly $93 million with today’s ticket prices).

Of course, Nolan has a huge fan base, so Warner Bros. doesn’t have much to worry about, so far as making the film profitable is concerned. With another $55.4 million overseas from 46 territories, the film is already safely past the $100 million mark globally, and should have a long shelf life on video. A few Oscar nominations are on the cards too.

Girls Trip isn’t going after Oscars, and Universal will be very happy with a $30.37 million opening weekend from just 2,591 theaters. By comparison, Rough Night could manage only $8 million on debut last month, while Bad Moms launched with a much more healthy $23.8 million this time last year. International prospects are relatively limited for Girls Trip, but it’s already well on its way to recouping its $28 million production budget.

Things look less rosy for Valerian and the City of the Thousand Planets, at least domestically. Luc Besson’s sci-fi adventure will post a projected $17.02 million this weekend, according to STX Entertainment. That’s not a disaster, given the distributor’s lower overheads compared to the major studios, and the film was financed in France, which means there’s not much downside risk for STX. But the film will be largely a footnote unless it does something spectacular overseas. It opens in France on Wednesday, and that will be the territory to watch.

Among returning films, Wonder Woman has overtaken Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 to become the second-high-grossing film at the domestic box office this year, behind Beauty and the Beast.

In limited release, things are mostly quiet this weekend, but The Midwife is doing nicely for Music Box Films with $20,250 from three theaters on opening weekend.

- Weekend estimates

- All-time highest-grossing films worldwide
- Christopher Nolan at the box office
- Planet of the Apes franchise history
- Spider-Man franchise history
- Despicable Me franchise history
- Pixar box office history
- DC Extended Universe franchise history

- Dunkirk comparison chart
- Girls Trip comparison chart
- Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets comparison chart
- War for the Planet of the Apes comparison chart
- The Big Sick comparison chart
- Spider-Man: Homecoming comparison chart
- Despicable Me 3 comparison chart
- Baby Driver comparison chart
- Wonder Woman comparison chart

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Wonder Woman, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Dunkirk, Sage femme, Rough Night, Girls Trip, Planet of the Apes, Spider-Man, Despicable Me, DC Extended Universe, Luc Besson, Christopher Nolan