Weekend Box Office: Dark Tower Isn’t Tall, Kidnap and Detroit Modest

Sony’s The Dark Tower led the weekend, but that couldn’t save it from being the lowest-grossing frame at the North American box office since April.

Battling its way to the top, Nikolaj Arcel’s The Dark Tower opened with $19.15 million from 3,451 venues, a soft showing for the anticipated book adaptation. More disappointing is that The Dark Tower was meant to spawn a franchise – the film’s co-financier, MRC, has been developing a television show. It isn’t known how The Dark Tower’s opening may affect these plans, but moviegoers exiting the movie were surveyed on their interest in a show. On a positive note, The Dark Tower notched the second-highest opening for a Stephen King adaptation, behind 2007’s 1408 ($20.6m), and it wasn’t an expensive tentpole ($60m production cost). The Dark Tower’s opening is comparable to this April’s Ghost in the Shell ($18.7m), which totalled $40.56m domestically. Despite lukewarm-negative reception for The Dark Tower (18% score on Rotten Tomatoes; 6.0/10 score on IMDb), it should play better than Ghost in the Shell as it won’t be facing immense competition in August.

Internationally, The Dark Tower slung $8 million from 19 markets, 11 of which it was #1. The only major market was Russia, where it grossed $4.1m. Global cume for The Dark Tower stands at $27.15m as it continues its international rollout.

In second place, Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk grossed $17.14 million in its third weekend, a small drop of -35.6%. Dunkirk has totalled $133.1m stateside, and it has a real shot at hitting $200m. Internationally, the World War II drama gathered $25.5 million from 63 markets. Top five international markets for Dunkirk are the U.K. ($49.8m), South Korea ($20.1m), Australia ($13m), France ($12.7m), and Spain ($6.7m). Major markets including China and Japan are on the horizon. Dunkirk’s international and global grosses total $181.1m and $314.2m, respectively.

Coming in third, Sony’s The Emoji Movie added $12 million, a -51.1% drop from its debut weekend. This is a worse second-weekend drop than this April’s similarly panned Smurfs: The Lost Village (-49.2%), though The Emoji Movie has already outgrossed Smurfs ($49.1m vs. $45m). The Emoji Movie is looking at a final domestic gross around $70m, which isn’t a disaster (it cost $50m to produce). Overseas, The Emoji Movie smiled up $12 million from 21 markets. Top markets for Emoji Movie are the U.K. ($3.5m), Mexico ($2.8m), and Germany ($1.2m), with many territories still to come. International and global totals for Emoji Movie stand at $12.7m and $61.8m.

In fourth, Universal’s Girls Trip revved another $11.4 million, -42% from its last session. The well-received comedy from Malcolm D. Lee has grossed $85.4m stateside as it chugs along to $100m. Girls Trip is also just ahead of Bridesmaids (+0.3%) at the same point in release. Internationally, Girls Trip added $1.7 million from 3 markets – it opened in South Africa ($192k) and Trinidad ($125k), and its U.K. haul rose to $5m. Girls Trip has totalled $5.4m overseas and $90.9m globally.

The weekend’s second wide release opened in fifth – Aviron’s Kidnap, starring Halle Berry, opened to $10 million from 2,378 locations. Kidnap opened well, considering it is a film that has shuffled release dates for two years. Reported production cost for Kidnap is $20m, but it’s doubtful Aviron spent much to pick it up from Relativity. Kidnap’s reception is mixed (40% score on Rotten Tomatoes; 6.0/10 score on IMDb), but a domestic haul over $25m is in the cards. Internationally, Kidnap has grossed $156.5k from two markets (Thailand, and Turkey). Global cume stands at $10.16m.

Down in eighth place, Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit expanded with $7.13 million from 3,007 venues. Including its run in limited release, Detroit has grossed $7.64m domestically. While the John Boyega/Anthony Mackie/Will Poulter film will have legs, its opening is underwhelming. Detroit is a victim of a competitive landscape and sensitive subject matter – while that makes it worthy viewing (especially considering its acclaim), it’s hard to draw audiences to the theatre when the “escapism” factor is lost. If Detroit posts a similar multiple to Ava DuVernay’s Selma, it will gross $33m in North America. With a $35m production cost, Detroit will have to hope it catches on in the post-theatrical market to turn a profit. There are no overseas numbers to report for Detroit.

HOLDOVERS

6. Spider-Man: Homecoming (Sony) – $8.85 million (-33.3%), $294.95m cume
7. Atomic Blonde (Focus) – $8.16 million (-55.4%), $34m cume
9. War for the Planet of the Apes (Fox) – $6.17 million (-41.1%), $130.45m cume
10. Despicable Me 3 (Universal) – $5.43 million (-28.5%), $240.92m cume