Weekend Box Office: Mission Proves #1 Isn’t Impossible

Like all good things, what is reaped lowers over time. Summers at the box office aren’t too different – start massive (maybe an Avengers), keep going (maybe an Incredibles), go down a bit (maybe an Ant-Man), and eventually you’re at a point where anything over $50 million is a beacon of light, lest a wrench ala Guardians of the Galaxy or Suicide Squad is thrown our way in August. This August we have Jason Statham battling a prehistoric shark, and while I don’t need more convincing, what a spectacular flop that’ll be.

Thank god for Thomas Mapover IV (I do not lie), then. Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout kept #1 with gusto, grossing an additional $35m off its franchise-best $61.24m debut, down -42.8% and tallying $124.49m. Fallout’s comparing favourably against the series’ last entry, 2015’s Rogue Nation, pacing +13.5% ahead of that movie at the same point in release. Rogue Nation hauled $195.04m by run’s end – a similar performance gives Fallout a $221.4m total, which would notch it as the franchise’s highest-grossing installment (unadjusted for inflation).

Internationally, Fallout added $76m from 56 markets for a $205m total. Global is $329.49m, a healthy number slightly overshadowed by the film’s eyebrow-raising $178m production cost. Per Variety, Fallout needs $560m to be in the clear, but given marketing costs these days something closer to $650m ought to let Paramount sleep at night. Top markets for Fallout are South Korea ($41.5m), the U.K. ($18.7m), India ($12.9m), Taiwan ($9.9m), and Indonesia ($9.4m).

Debuting in second, Disney’s Christopher Robin was just sort of okay, making $25m from 3,602 venues ($6,941 per-theatre average). The live-action Pooh flick fared quite a bit better than the adorable roster’s last theatrical outing, 2011’s animated Winnie the Pooh ($26.69m total), but these numbers aren’t overly impressive relative to Robin’s $75m production cost.

Critics weren’t in love with this one, granting a 68% score on Rotten Tomatoes (avg. critic score being 6.2/10 from >110 reviews), but audiences have taken a liking to it, awarding Robin a 92% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 8.1/10 on IMDb (from >2,600 ratings). So there’s a fine chance this holds well through August, especially given the piss-poor competition it’ll face. A decent comparison here is Disney’s fellow Pete’s Dragon, a 2016 release that grossed $76.23m off a $21.51m debut.

Overseas, the Ewan McGregor-starrer made $4.8m from 18 markets. Still waiting on specific breakdowns, but Disney’s pulling a staggered release for this one. Global total for Christopher Robin is $29.8m.

Taking third in its opening, Lionsgate’s Mila Kunis-Kate McKinnon action comedy The Spy Who Dumped Me was mostly dumped by the public, making a meh $12.35m from 3,111 hubs ($3,970 per-theatre average). It’s clear Lionsgate was gunning for another The Hitman’s Bodyguard, their August action comedy last year that made $75.47m off a $21.38m opening. This isn’t to say there’s no chance Spy Who Dumped Me could hold decently, once again just because this August truly is a nonstarter (it hurts me), but with a $40m production cost it’ll be hard to rack up profitable numbers.

There are no international figures to report for The Spy Who Dumped Me.

In fourth, Universal’s Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again eased -39.8% in its third frame, singing up $9.09m for a $91.34m total. Thus far, Here We Go Again is pacing +4.3% ahead of its 2008 predecessor, with the caveat that its holds are noticeably worse. Still, this is a rock-stupid obvious lock for $100m+ and it has the bonus of ABBA being a Big Deal around the world.

Speaking of, Here We Go Again grossed $19.3m from 53 international markets this frame. Overseas and global tallies are $139.2m and $230.54m, respectively, with plenty of major territories yet to open. Top markets for the $75m musical are the U.K. ($51.7m), Australia ($12.3m), Germany ($11.3m), with updated numbers needed from Spain ($5.5m as of last week) and France ($2.4m).

Rounding out the top five, Sony’s Denzel Washington-starrer The Equalizer 2 had a fine hold, declining -37% to gross $8.83m in round no. 3. Domestic tally for the Antoine Fuqua movie is $79.89m, coming in with surprisingly identical numbers to its 2014 predecessor at the same point in release (where it was at $79.86m). We’ll see if the second runaround can eclipse the first’s $101.53m. One of the… dryer anticipations of the summer, but whatever.

Overseas, Equalizer 2 hasn’t made much of a play yet, taking in $940k from 11 markets thus far for a $7.7m cume, led by Australia ($4.3m). The first movie took in $90.8m, so give it time. Global is $87.59m for the $62m actioner.

Outside the top five, Fox’s weirdly blatant X-Men knockoff (even weirder when they, y’know, produce the X-Men movies) The Darkest Minds was a total wash at #8, making $5.8m from 3,127 venues, taking the eleventh-worst debut ever for a movie in over 3,000 theatres. It nabbed $9.87m in its global debut, but with a $34m budget this isn’t dandy.

Outside the top ten, Quality Flix’s bizarrely-named pro-Trump documentary from oddball (and convict, but who am I to dwell on the finer details) Dinesh D’Souza, titled Death of a Nation, didn’t make much noise with $2.33m from 1,005 hubs.

 

HOLDOVERS

6. Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (Sony) – $8.2 million (-33.1%), $136.46m cume
7. Ant-Man and the Wasp (Disney) – $6.19 million (-29.4%), $195.47m cume
9. Incredibles 2 (Disney) – $5.01 million (-31%), $583.14m cume
10. Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (Warner Bros.) – $4.86 million (-53.3%), $20.78m cume

SPECIAL SHOUTOUT to Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther for becoming just the third movie ever to cross $700 million in the U.S./Canada. All you OCD box office nerds can die happy.