Weekend Box Office: Kingsman is Golden, Lego Ninjago Breaks Apart

Two reasonably popular franchises entered the marketplace this weekend along with a low-budget horror flick. High-fives all around, right?

Uh, yeah, about that…

Breaking into first place, Fox’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle grabbed $39 million from 4,003 venues, representing a decent +7.2% increase over its predecessor’s $36.21m debut. Whether Golden Circle will match Secret Service‘s $128.26m total is up in the air, however. The first Kingsman film notched a 3.54x multiplier thanks to its novelty and positive notices (74% rating on Rotten Tomatoes; 7.7/10 on IMDb), whereas The Golden Circle will rely on series goodwill and noticeably mixed reception (50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes; 7.4/10 on IMDb as of this writing).

That said, Golden Circle managing to open above Secret Service is a reasonable feat, especially when you factor in the holiday weekend Secret Service opened over (Valentine’s Day). Another thing to note is that The Golden Circle nabbed the fifth-highest debut in September. Although the $104m spy sequel’s $39m opening didn’t meet the $40m+ expectation held by most of the industry (and Fox), it shouldn’t have much trouble hitting a profit. Golden Circle’s marketing emphasized the film’s fun, occasionally ridiculous nature, promising more of what people loved about the first flick. Adding stars like Channing Tatum, Halle Berry, and Jeff Bridges didn’t hurt either.

Internationally, Kingsman: The Golden Circle broke out with $61.2 million from 64 markets, taking #1 in 55 of those. Compared to The Secret Service, Golden Circle is up +63% in the same territories (and accounting for exchange rates). The first Kingsman roped in $286.09m overseas, and with these numbers things are looking rosy for The Golden Circle. With its international debut, Kingsman 2 has notched a $100.25m global launch. Top openings are the U.K. ($11.1m), Russia ($6m), Taiwan ($4.8m), Australia ($4.4m), and Indonesia ($3.3m), with releases in a few major territories to come.

Falling to second, Warner Bros./New Line’s IT continued to lure in cash, adding another $30 million over the weekend. IT’s domestic total stands at a mighty $266.34m and it eclipsed The Exorcist ($232.91m) to become the highest-grossing R-rated horror film (not adjusted for inflation). The next target? The Sixth Sense’s $293.51m total, the highest for any horror movie. Overseas, the Stephen King adaptation took in $38.3 million from 59 markets, lifting it to a $211.7m international total. Global tally is a whopping $478.04m and should clear $500m shortly. It’s worth mentioning, again, that IT cost just $35m to produce. Top markets for IT are the U.K. ($34.5m), Mexico ($21.1m), Russia ($16.6m), Australia ($14.9m), and Brazil ($14.5m).

Debuting in third, Warner Bros.’ The Lego Ninjago Movie brought in an underwhelming $21.25 million from 4,047 locations. This is well below the opening of this February’s The Lego Batman Movie ($53m) and even further from 2014’s The Lego Movie ($69.05m). What happened here? For starters, Ninjago was never (realistically) going to match its predecessors, and we’ve already had a Lego film earlier this year. Some industry tabloids are stating that the Lego franchise has “run its course,” but I feel that’s kind of over the top. Ninjago is a niche thing itself – it had a TV show lasting six seasons, creating its own fanbase (that began to thin) and not really driving any NEED for a theatrical film.

These movies are only as popular as their subjects; people know what Lego is, they know what Batman is, but not all of those people are aware (or fans) of Ninjago. It also doesn’t help that The Lego Ninjago Movie has a mixed-negative 53% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 6.4/10 on IMDb. Compare that to the past two Lego flicks, both of which were/are adored. So no, the series isn’t on a train to doom and gloom (The Lego Movie 2 will do just fine, I assure you); the general masses just weren’t interested in a Ninjago movie. Anywho, Ninjago’s opening was virtually identical to last year’s Storks ($21.31m, also a WB animation released in September). Storks carried itself to $72.68m stateside, a figure Ninjago could aim for if it doesn’t prove to be front-loaded. Working in Ninjago’s favour is that it’s the only notable animated release until Sony’s The Star in November, unless you’re really excited for Lionsgate’s My Little Pony in two weeks. Ninjago needs the legs – it carries a $70m production cost.

Internationally, The Lego Ninjago Movie opened with $10.5 million from 37 markets, giving it a global debut of $31.75m. Many openings were on par with The Lego Movie, though this franchise isn’t as valuable a commodity overseas (The Lego Movie made $211.4m overseas, whereas Lego Batman dipped to $136m). Top debuts for Ninjago are Russia ($1.7m), Germany ($1.4m), Poland ($803k), Australia ($800k), and Spain ($604k).

Taking fourth, Lionsgate/CBS Films’ American Assassin declined -57.9% to add $6.25 million. Domestic cume for the Dylan O’Brien/Michael Keaton-starrer is $26.18m. While such a drop isn’t surprising given Kingsman: The Golden Circle’s presence, that doesn’t change the fact American Assassin’s performance has been unremarkable. Assassin is looking at a final tally just above $40m, disappointing for a $33m actioner based on a popular book series. There are no updated international numbers to report for American Assassin at this time. The pic’s global tally is $32.29m.

In fifth, Paramount’s Mother! also fell sharply: the polarizing drama grossed $3.26 million, down -56.7% from its debut. The Darren Aronofksy flick has made $13.43m, not the figures Paramount were hoping for since it carries a $30m price tag. Perhaps this one should’ve been platformed and left to simmer. Internationally, Mother! added $4.6 million from 29 markets. Overseas and global tallies are $12.5m and $25.93m, respectively. Top markets for Mother! are the U.K. ($2.3m), France ($2m), Russia ($2m), Germany ($1.4m), and Mexico ($734k).

Down in seventh place, Entertainment Studios’ Friend Request grossed a frankly terrible $2.4 million from 2,573 venues. So bad, in fact, that it is the worst debut ever for a saturated (2,500+ theatres) release, beating Fox’s Victor Frankenstein ($2.47m). Perhaps the saddest thing about Friend Request’s opening is that it was kind of expected – Entertainment Studios is a brand new distributor (though their summer horror 47 Meters Down was a sleeper hit, making $44.28m off a $5.5m production cost), buzz for Friend Request was nonexistent, and the movie looked like a rehash of overplayed tropes. Why would people go for a tiny bit of fat when they can go for the IT striploin? Reception for Friend Request is similarly poor with a 19% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 5.4/10 on IMDb. It doesn’t help that the film was already released overseas a year ago (it grossed $7.17m from 10 markets). Friend Request has grossed $9.57m globally.

 

HOLDOVERS

6. Home Again (Open Road) – $3.23 million (-37.6%), $22.27m cume
8. The Hitman’s Bodyguard (Lionsgate) – $1.85 million (-48.5%), $73.6m cume
9. Stronger (Roadside Attractions) – $1.75 million (NEW), $1.75m cume
10. Wind River (Weinstein) – $1.27 million (-50.8%), $31.65m cume

 

NOTABLES

– Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming became the #1 superhero film of 2017 worldwide, having grossed $874.39 million.