Weekend Wrap-Up: The Nun Stuns, Box Office Still Falls
September 11, 2018
The Nun topped expectations with $53.81 million over the weekend. Peppermint was well back in second place with $13.42 million, which is an acceptable debut for this time of year. Crazy Rich Asians was in a close third place and overall the box office was quite strong. The total box office was $121 million, which is 23% better than last weekend. Granted, this is 26% lower than the same weekend last year. Normally a drop this severe would be troubling, but this isn’t a normal situation. Firstly, this weekend last year was the weekend It debuted and rewrote the record book. Secondly, 2018 is still ahead of 2017 by 10% or $770 million at $8.36 billion to $7.59 billion. This means 2018’s gains during the weekdays almost made up for its losses over the weekend.
The Nun had the best opening in the Conjuring franchise with $53.81 million over the weekend. This is enough that Warner Bros.’s share of the opening weekend box office is well above its reported $22 million production budget. Unless the film earns less during the rest of its run than it earned during its opening weekend, it will break even just on its domestic theatrical box office. Legs that short are not completely out of the question, as its reviews are just 26% positive and it earned a mere C from CinemaScore. That said, it is performing even better internationally, so it will have a very strong return on investment soon.
Peppermint managed second place with $13.42 million during its opening weekend. This matched our prediction nearly perfectly, but isn’t really enough to become a real hit. Its reviews are just 13% positive and while it managed a B plus from CinameScore, it likely won’t have great legs. The film reportedly cost about $25 million to make, so it could still break even relatively soon.
Crazy Rich Asians slipped to third place with $13.15 million over the weekend for a total of $135.77 million after four weeks of release. The film is about to become the biggest hit Warner Bros. released this year. However, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald should become the biggest hit for the studio by the end of the year. It’s hard to imagine that movie will be as profitable as Crazy Rich Asians will be.
The Meg landed in fourth place with $6.09 million over the weekend for a total of $131.64 million after a month of release.
Searching remained in the top five with $4.57 million over the weekend for a running tally of $14.37 million. Its theater average was $2,275, which is not enough to expect further significant expansion, but it is also not low enough to expect theater owners to drop it quickly either.
God Bless the Broken Road missed the top ten with just $1.39 million in 1,272 theaters. Combine its $1,090 theater average and its 13% positive reviews and you get really short legs.
There were two sophomore stint films. Operation Finale fell 52% to $2.87 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $13.94 million. That’s not a great hold, but it was amazing compared to Kin. That film fell 74% to $804,000 over the weekend for a total of $5.32 million after two weeks of release. I suspect it will be practically gone by Friday.
- The Nun Comparisons
- Peppermint Comparisons
- God Bless the Broken Road Comparisons
Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, The Meg, God Bless the Broken Road, The Nun, Crazy Rich Asians, Kin, Operation Finale, Searching, Peppermint, The Conjuring