Warner Bros. had a great weekend at the box office, but that couldn’t save the overall frame from declining -6% from last weekend, making this the fourth lowest-grossing weekend in 2017.
Conjuring (sorry) a first-place finish, David F. Sandberg’s Annabelle: Creation spooked up $35 million from 3,502 venues. Creation’s opening was just -5.7% off from Annabelle’s $37.13m debut, a fantastic hold for a horror sequel. Warner Bros. and New Line marketed Creation effectively – the synonymous doll was put front-and-centre while maintaining the film’s connection to the Conjuring series, and each piece of advertising was suitably creepy. Couple that with the goodwill from last year’s The Conjuring 2, and the dearth of notable horror outings this summer, and Annabelle: Creation was set for success.
Regarding Creation’s legs, there is a strong chance it surpasses Annabelle’s 2.27x multiple and comes closer to Conjuring 2 (2.54x), which would give it an $88.9m domestic total. Creation has a chance at reaching higher grosses, however, given its positive reception and the lack of direct competition until Warner Bros.’ It arrives on September 8th. Considering Creation cost a cheap $15m to produce, this is a great success for Warner Bros. and company, as well as another victory for the Conjuring universe.
Internationally, Annabelle: Creation logged $35.4 million from 39 markets. The creepy doll’s overseas and global totals sit at $37.1m and $72.1m, respectively. Creation posted the highest opening for the Conjuring franchise in 26 of its markets, and the highest opening for a horror film in 5. Annabelle grossed $173m overseas – if Creation follows an overseas bump akin to The Conjuring 2 (+19% over its predecessor), it will net around $205m. Top markets for Annabelle: Creation are South Korea ($6.7m), Indonesia ($3.9m), the U.K. ($2.6m), France ($2.4m), and Italy ($2.4m).
Holding onto second, Warner Bros.’ Dunkirk added $10.88 million (-36.5% from last weekend), giving it a domestic cume of $153.19m. Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed World War II epic continues to post strong legs, and has an outside shot at eclipsing $200m in North America. Overseas, Dunkirk grossed $14.8 million from 62 markets, -41% from its last frame. International and global totals for Dunkirk are $210.5m and $363.69m. Dunkirk needs $118m to surpass Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan as the highest-grossing WWII film globally. Dunkirk’s top five foreign markets are the U.K. ($58.4m), South Korea ($21.2m), Australia ($15m), France ($14.9m), and Spain ($8m).
Arriving in third, Open Road’s The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature took in $8.34 million from 4,003 locations. Nut Job 2 broke the record for the lowest opening weekend for a film debuting in 4,000+ venues, the third time in two months this has been broken (previously, it was owned by Sony’s The Emoji Movie two weeks ago, and Universal’s The Mummy in June). Nutty by Nature’s opening was also off a sharp -57.1% from its predecessor’s $19.42m debut. The Nut Job 2 was a victim of poor reception (11% score on Rotten Tomatoes; 4.2/10 rating on IMDb) and an audience who appear to have tired of low-quality animated fare. Its predecessor isn’t necessarily beloved, either. If Nutty by Nature performs similarly to the first film, it is eying a $28m total. With a $40m production cost, Open Road will not be happy with The Nut Job 2. As of this writing, there are no international numbers to report for the animated sequel.
Falling into fourth, Sony’s The Dark Tower grossed $7.82 million, giving the Stephen King adaptation a $34.52m domestic cume. The Dark Tower fell -59.2% from its opening weekend as the film continues to perform similarly to Paramount’s Ghost in the Shell (-60.9% drop in its second weekend). The Nikolaj Arcel film is targeting a $50m+ domestic total – not a disaster given its $60m production cost, but certainly not enough to justify a franchise. Overseas, The Dark Tower added $7.9 million from 35 markets, giving it international and global totals of $19.3m and $53.55m. Top markets for The Dark Tower are Russia ($4.6m, pending update), Germany ($1.5m), France ($1.2m), Italy ($885k), and the United Arab Emirates ($839k).
In fifth place, Universal’s Girls Trip exercised its staying power with a $6.47 million haul, lifting its total to $97.14m. Girls Trip dropped a healthy -43.3% from last weekend and will cross the $100m milestone this week. Internationally, Girls Trip grossed $1.3 million from 3 markets, giving it an early overseas haul of $8.42m. The breakout comedy’s global total is now $105.56m. Girls Trip’s top market is the U.K., where it has made $7.3m thus far.
Down in ninth, the weekend’s last new release barely made an impact. Lionsgate’s The Glass Castle, starring Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, and Naomi Watts, grossed $4.68 million from 1,461 theatres. The Glass Castle is an awards-bait picture, the kind of film that survives based on critical reception, and critics were mixed – Glass Castle holds a 49% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences have been a tad more accepting, giving it a 7.0/10 score on IMDb. There is a chance The Glass Castle will post a decent multiple, but with numbers this small that would be more of a trivia fact. It’s a disappointing showing for the film, based on the bestselling memoir by Jeannette Walls. Perhaps it will find its audience in the post-theatrical market. Currently, there are no overseas numbers to report for The Glass Castle.
HOLDOVERS
6. The Emoji Movie (Sony) – $6.45 million (-46.3%), $63.44m cume
7. Spider-Man: Homecoming (Sony) – $6.02 million (-31.9%), $306.38m cume
8. Kidnap (Aviron) – $5.1 million (-49.1%), $19.27m cume
10. Atomic Blonde (Focus) – $4.48 million (-45.1%), $42.73m cume
NOTABLES
– Warner Bros. Wonder Woman crossed the $400 million milestone, and its domestic cume stands at $402.18m.
– Sony’s Baby Driver crossed the $100 million milestone this weekend. It has grossed $100.03m.
As always, thanks for reading, and stay tuned for this weekend’s box office forecast, featuring Lionsgate’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard and Bleecker Street’s Logan Lucky.
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