Box Office: Ghostbusters‘ $46 Million Not Enough To Overtake The Secret Life Of Pets

Box Office, Columns

BOX-OFFICE-movie-theater3

The weekend box office was hot and heavy (or in this case shaggy and ghostly). The arrival of an all-female Ghostbusters brought a lot of baggage in the form of outcries of ruined childhoods on account of this ’80s comedy classic being remade with female comedians. For shame. Undaunted, the comedy opened to positive reviews (an aggregate RT score of 73% as of this writing) and it nearly scored a first-place finish. But in the end it was The Secret Life of Pets retaining the #1 spot with an estimated $50.5 million.

Ghostbusters was No. 2 with $46 million and actually had a better per-screen average playing on 3,963 screens vs. Pets‘ 4,381. Third place finisher The Legend of Tarzan finished with $11.1 million. In three weeks this latest incarnation of Edgar Rice Bourrough’s classic pulp character has amassed $103 million domestic with another $90 million outside the U.S.

Finding Dory continues to swim its way to box office history as this year’s top grossing domestic release with $445 million after five weeks.

The Purge: Election Year is closing in on overtaking The Purge: Anarchy as the most successful entry in the horror franchise. It should eclipse it when actuals are released on Monday or by mid-week with a few more days of audience attendance.

Broad Green Pictures opened The Infiltrator with Bryan Cranston on 1,600 screens where it finished No. 8 with $5.2 million. Independence Day: Resurgence rounds out the top ten with $3.4 million. In four weeks it has made a disappointing $98.5 million but it is a big hit in foreign territories.

The same cannot be said for Steven Spielberg’s The BFG. Heavy on computer effects, this adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel has only made $47.3 after three weeks of release. Its production budget is an estimated $140 million. Ouch.

New in limited release we have Woody Allen’s 46th film Cafe Society. Debuting on five screens the Lionsgate/Amazon Studios release raked in $355,000 ($71k per screen).

On tap for the weekend we have new releases Star Trek Beyond, Lights Out, Ice Age: Collision Course and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie. Don’t be surprised if the secret to overtaking The Secret Life of Pets resides with some animated prehistoric creatures. But my money is on Star Trek. The last two have opened north of $70 million.

Full top 10 can be found below.

01. The Secret Life of Pets – $50.5 Million ($203m)
02. Ghostbusters (2016) – $46 Million
03. The Legend of Tarzan – $11.1 Million ($103m)
04. Finding Dory – $11 Million ($445m)
05. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates – $7.5 Million ($31.3m)
06. The Purge: Election Year – $6 Million ($71m)
07. Central Intelligence – $5.3 Million ($117.5m)
08. The Infiltrator – $5.2 Million ($6.7m)
09. The BFG – $3.7 Million ($47.3m)
10. Independence Day: Resurgence – $3.45 Million ($98.5m)

Travis Leamons is one of the Inside Pulse Originals and currently holds the position of Managing Editor at Inside Pulse Movies. He's told that the position is his until he's dead or if "The Boss" can find somebody better. I expect the best and I give the best. Here's the beer. Here's the entertainment. Now have fun. That's an order!