Just as I had indicated with last week’s box office recap, Don’t Breathe knocked off Suicide Squad to become your new No.1 film in the country. The success of this suspense thriller from Screen Gems is notable for a few reasons. The first reason is that with an estimated haul of $26.1 million it is the most successful genre opening for the distribution studio (Sony Pictures Entertainment is its parent company). That’s pretty impressive considering in the nearly 20 year history Screen Gems has released franchise sequels Underworld: Awakening and Resident Evil: Retribution. Strangely enough, the biggest openings under the Screen Gems banner include Dear John, The Vow and Think Like a Man.
Reason No. 2: Don’t Breathe also resulted in Screen Gems surpassing one billion in domestic box office earnings. Worldwide it is at $1.95 billion.
Dropping to second, Suicide Squad made $12.1 million to bring its four week total to $282 million ($635.9 million worldwide). Moving up one spot to claim bronze was Laika’s Kubo and the Two Strings. Adding a few more screens it only had a 37% drop in attendance as it finished with $7.9 million, a few $100k better than its raunchy animated counterpart Sausage Party ($80 million in three weeks). Completing the top five is Jason Statham’s Mechanic: Resurrection, which opened with $7.5 million.
Todd Phillips’ War Dogs took a noticeable dip at the box office as it dropped from third to seventh place with $7.25 million. Bad Moms sees continued success as it maintains the eighth spot with $5.76 million to bring its five-week total to $95 million. While a female-led Ghostbusters may be a box office failure, a mid-range comedy with a female-led cast is a summer box office sleeper (and in the process has made SNL alum Kathryn Hahn a national treasure – the comedy MVP of Bad Moms by far).
An unnecessary Jason Bourne sequel and unwarranted retelling of Ben-Hur complete the top ten.
Outside looking in is the critically acclaimed Hell or High Water (No. 12 with $3.7 million) and new releases Southside with You (No. 13, $3 million) and Hands of Stone (No. 16, $1.7 million). In limited release, Sony Pictures Classics opened the John Krasinski-directed The Hollars. It collected $46k from four screens, while IFC’s Complete Unknown, starring Rachel Weisz and Michael Shannon, made $15.6k at two locations.
With September marking the start of the fall movie season and quest for Oscar gold, the weekend upcoming sees the release of The Light Between Oceans, starring Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander and based on the best-selling novel. Its competition includes Fox’s Morgan, a sci-fi thriller directed by Ridley Scott’s son, Luke, and Jerry Lewis returning to cinema in the limited release Max Rose.
I’ll go with Don’t Breathe to repeat if it can retain a little more than 50% of its first weekend audience. Its critical praise and word of mouth could help in repeating atop the box office.
Complete Top 10 results are below.
01. Don’t Breathe – $26.1 Million
02. Suicide Squad – $12.1 Million ($282.8m)
03. Kubo and the Two Strings – $7.9 Million ($24.9m)
04. Sausage Party – $7.6 Million ($80m)
05. Mechanic: Resurrection – $7.5 Million
06. Pete’s Dragon – $7.28 Million ($54.7m)
07. War Dogs – $7.25 Million ($27.7m)
08. Bad Moms – $5.76 Million ($95.4m)
09. Jason Bourne – $5.2 Million ($149.3m)
10. Ben-Hur (2016) – $4.5 Million ($19.5m)
