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 "It," from Warner Bros. and New Line, expects
to finish its second weekend with $60 million from 4,103
locations. That would make its domestic gross so far $218.7
million -- a record for the highest earning September release
ever. The old record-holder was 1986's "Crocodile Dundee" with
$174.8 million. Broken down by day this weekend, "It" earned
$19.4 million on Friday and $26.2 million on Saturday. Sunday's
take is estimated to be about $14.5 million. 389 Imax screens
are expected to account for just over $3 million of the film's
take in North America this weekend.
Overseas, "It" is pulling in an additional $60.3 million in 56
markets. That raises its international total to $152.6 million
and the worldwide tally to $371.3 million.
Based on Stephen King's novel, "It" opened last weekend with an
enormous domestic pull of $123.4 million. The R-rated title,
reportedly made for about $35 million, stars Bill Skarsgard as
an evil clown named Pennywise who terrorizes children. The rest
of the cast includes Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn
Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer,
Nicholas Hamilton, Jaeden Lieberher, and Jackson Robert Scott.
Meanwhile "Mother!" is struggling. The Paramount release
directed by Darren Aronofsky is expected to earn $7.5 million
from 2,368 locations. That's an all-time low for wide releases
starring Jennifer Lawrence. One contributing factor to the
movie's bottom line is that audiences entirely rejected it and
bestowed an F CinemaScore. That's despite a critical split that
landed the polarizing movie a generally positive 68% on Rotten
Tomatoes.
Women made up the bulk of the audience (56%), and slightly more
than half of the audience (52%) was over the age of 35. The
launch was driven by a marketing campaign that shrouded the
R-rated movie in mystery and didn't give much away regarding
plot. In addition to Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, and
Michelle Pfeiffer also star.
Another fresh R-rated launch, "American Assassin" -- a joint
production between CBS Films and Lionsgate -- is expecting an
opening of $14.8 million from 3,154 locations. The audience
breakdown was 55% Male and 29% under the age of 35. The film is
an adaptation of Vince Flynn's 2010 novel, and stars Dylan
O'Brien as a CIA black ops recruit who is trained by a Cold War
veteran (Michael Keaton). The film's opening is comparable to
2014's "John Wick," which opened to $14.4 million on its way to
launch a franchise with $43 million in domestic earnings.
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"We feel that we're off to a very solid start," Shaun Barber,
Lionsgate's EVP and general sales manager of domestic theatrical
distribution, said, pointing to the A CinemaScore the movie earned
from the under 25 audience, and a strong September box office so
far. As for plans to make the movie a franchise, he said "it's very
early in the run" and "too soon to call."
Open Road's "Home Again" should land in fourth this weekend with
$5.3 million from 3,036 locations (only a 38% drop from last
weekend). "The Hitman's Bodyguard," from Lionsgate, continues to
stay in the top five with about $3.6 million from 3,272 spots. The
rest of the top ten is made up of "Annabelle: Creation" ($2.6
million); Taylor Sheridan's "Wind River" ($2.6 million), which has
now out-grossed "Hell of High Water" in North America; "Leap!" ($2.1
million); "Spider-Man: Homecoming" ($1.9 million); and "Dunkirk"
($1.3 million).
In limited release, Annapurna and Amazon's "Brad's Status" is
tracking to earn $100,179 this weekend from four locations. Mike
White wrote and directed the movie starring Ben Stiller as a man who
is constantly comparing his life to those of his college friends.
Austin Abrams, Jenna Fischer, Luke Wilson, and Michael Sheen also
star in the flick, which has been generally well-reviewed (83% on
Rotten Tomatoes). The film is expected to expand to 100 locations
next weekend.
Amazon Studios' head of marketing and distribution Bob Berney noted
that "fathers are really relating to the film" and Stiller's
performance.
After a catastrophic summer of moviegoing, a strong September so far
(39.4% better than last year, powered by "It") is leading a gradual
recovery. The year to date box office is now 4.9% behind last year
-- up from 6.5% behind at the end of the summer. The domestic box
office so far this year has earned $7.9 billion.
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