The Hitman’s Bodyguard‘s top spot would have been a lot more impressive a week ago, but a win is still a win even if it happened on the worst weekend of the summer.
The Hitman’s Bodyguard opened about as well as expected with $21.4 million, leading this summer’s worst weekend yet (it doesn’t look like the next one will be any better, quite the opposite). So yes, August is still very much down from last year (and the one before). Outside of superhero movies (specifically Deadpool) and the odd surprise here and there (The Promise or Safe House, but he wasn’t really the draw in either one), Ryan Reynolds is definitely not a box office draw, far from it. Which is why I consider this a good start. Of course you could argue it was Samuel L. Jackson that was the bigger draw, and you’d probably be right. Regardless The Hitman’s Bodyguard cost only $30 million and this debut sets it on course for a final domestic total in the $50-60 million range. It might even bring in more and then there’s also international box office, so it’s safe to say The Hitman’s Bodyguard will easily recoup its budget.
Annabelle: Creation fell to 2nd with $15.6 million, losing 55.4% from its opening weekend. That’s a better second weekend drop than what we saw with Annabelle (-57.3%) or The Conjuring 2 (-63.2%), but not quite on the level of the first Conjuring (-46.9%). Also with $65.8 million in 11 days the prequel is now running $2.6 million ahead of Annabelle, despite just last week opening $2.1 million lower. I think based on those numbers $90 million is about as low as Annabelle: Creation can finish in the US, which means this won’t be the last we’ve seen of Annabelle.
Logan Lucky wasn’t so lucky in 3rd with only $7.6 million. For director Steven Soderbergh this is his worst start for a wide release since Solaris ($6.8 million) almost 15 years ago. It’s true that Logan Lucky carries a pretty modest (looking at the cast) $29 million price tag, but $7.6 million is low even for that. So what happened? I honestly don’t know, looking at the trailers, great reviews and cast, this should have been an easy win for Soderbergh, but it’s clearly not. Assuming Logan Lucky has long legs at the box office, it might get to $30 million in the US. Realistically it will probably stop around $20-25 million.
Dunkirk moved from 2nd to 4th with $6.6 million, off by 39.2% this frame. In 32 days the World War II drama made $166.1 million and it looks like it will run out at $185 million or so in the US. That would make it Christopher Nolan’s 6th highest grossing film (it’s 5th worldwide after overtaking Batman Begins early last week).
The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature rounds out the top 5 with $5.1 million, down 39%, thus bringing its domestic total to $18.2 million after 11 days.
In other box office news Girls Trip became the year’s 20th release to hit $100 million in the US. The R-rated comedy has so far made $104.4 million, all in just 32 days.