Weekend Wrap-Up: Kingsman Wins Three-Way Race with $16.94 million
October 3, 2017
The top three films on the weekend box office chart landed in the same order as predicted; however, it was a much closer race than most thought it would be. Kingsman: The Golden Circle ended up on top with $16.94 million, just ahead of It with $16.90 million. The best new release of the week was American Made with $16.78 million. The other new releases struggled, to be kind, with Flatliners earning a distant fifth place and Til Death Do Us Part opening in ninth place. Overall, the box office fell 23% from last weekend to just $90 million. It was also 21% lower than the same weekend last year, thus ending 2017’s mini-winning streak. Year-to-date, 2017 has earned $8.06 billion, putting it 4.8% or $410 million behind last year’s pace.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle remained in top spot, despite falling 57% to $16.94 million during its second weekend of release for a ten-day total of $66.64 million. It still has a shot at $100 million domestically, but it is not a sure thing anymore. Additionally, the film cost $104 million to make, so earning $100 million domestically won’t be enough to break even, not unless it does significantly better internationally.
It remained in second place with $16.90 million, pushing its running tally to $290.78 million. The film will be the fifth film released in 2017 to reach the $300 mark and will do so this coming weekend. It isn’t doing as well internationally, but that really doesn’t matter. Unless the film cost $100 million to advertise, it has already broken even just on its domestic box office numbers.
American Made opened in third place with $16.78 million over the weekend. This is better than predicted, but not good for a film that reportedly cost between $50 million and $80 million to make. (The most detailed breakdown I saw was $80 million on the screen, minus $20 million in tax breaks.) Assuming the low end is accurate, then it will break even early during its home market run. If it’s on the high end, then it will likely need some luck on the home market to break even any time soon.
The Lego Ninjago Movie matched expectations with $11.64 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $35.20 million. Unless something changes internationally, this film will lose money.
Flatliners flopped with $6.57 million during its opening weekend. It did finally get its first positive review on Rotten Tomatoes, but it will go down as one of the worst movies of the year, or any year. Furthermore, its theater average is just $2,576, so theater owners will be looking to drop the movie as soon as contractually obligated.
Til Death Do Us Part barely managed a spot in the top ten with $1.52 million in 562 theaters for an average of $2,708. There is only one review on Rotten Tomatoes. It is positive, but it is impossible to judge a movie’s potential word-of-mouth based on just one review. Its theater average is low enough that word-of-mouth might not matter, because theater owners will restrict showtimes and then drop the movie as soon as possible.
Friend Request was the only film in the sophomore class that wasn’t in the top five. It fell 64% landing in 14th place with just $728,000 over the weekend for a ten-day total of $3.41 million. It could have opened with $3.41 million and it still been a bomb.
- American Made Comparisons
- Flatliners Comparisons
- ’Til Death Do Us Part Comparisons
Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, The Lego Ninjago Movie, American Made, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Friend Request, Flatliners, It, Til Death Do Us Part