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 The big-screen continuation of the popular British TV show beat
expectations with $31 million when it debuted in 3,079 theaters,
setting a new opening weekend record for the studio. "Downton
Abbey" easily surpassed newcomers "Ad Astra" and "Rambo: Last
Blood," which are in a close race for second place.
Overseas, the royal period drama has collected $41 million to
date for a worldwide tally of $61.8 million. Series creator
Julian Fellowes wrote "Downton Abbey," while Michael Engler
directed. Much of the cast from the TV show -- including Hugh
Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery and Maggie
Smith -- returned for the film adaptation.
Moviegoers, consisting mostly of older females, awarded the film
with an A CinemaScore -- the highest grade among this weekend's
new offerings. For comparison, "Ad Astra" landed a B- and
"Rambo: Last Blood" secured a B. As for "Downton Abbey," 74% of
ticket buyers were female and 60% were over the age of 35.
"Audiences were clearly ready to come back to Downton and visit
the Crawleys and all the familiar faces upstairs and
downstairs," said Lisa Bunnell, Focus Features president of
distribution. "At its core, it's a story about family and
audiences, both original fans and newcomers, are uplifted by
that laughter and joy of the film."
Meanwhile, "Ad Astra" looks to have pulled slightly ahead of
"Rambo: Last Blood" in North America, arriving on the higher end
of projections with $19.2 million from 3,450 venues. Still, the
astronaut drama starring Brad Pitt and directed by James Gray
will need to have a long journey in multiplexes to justify its
$80 million price tag. "Ad Astra" follows Roy McBride (Pitt), an
astronaut on a mission across time and space to uncover the
truth about his missing father. The cast also includes Tommy Lee
Jones, Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler and Donald Sutherland.
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Though "Rambo: Last Blood" was forecasted to lead box office
charts, the final chapter in Sylvester Stallone's action
franchise should finish the weekend in third place. The film
earned $19.015 million from 3,618 locations, in line with studio
expectations and slightly ahead of 2008's "Rambo" ($18.2
million), the latest entry to grace the silver screen. Adrian
Grunberg directed the film, which was co-written by Stallone.
"Rambo: Last Blood" is expected to be Stallone's final go-around
as John Rambo, a character first introduced to audiences in the
1980s. To no surprise, older men accounted for majority of
opening weekend crowds: 66% of opening weekend crowds were male,
while 42% were over the age of 30.
After two weeks atop domestic box office charts, Warner Bros.'
"It: Chapter Two" slid to No. 4. The sequel, based on Stephen
King's terrifying novel, pulled in $17.2 million during its
third outing for a domestic tally of $179 million.
Rounding out the top five is STX's "Hustlers" with $17 million,
an especially promising figure considering three new films
debuted this weekend. After two weeks of release, "Hustlers" has
amassed $62 million in North America and $9.84 million overseas
for a worldwide haul of $72 million. The film -- directed by
Lorene Scafaria and starring Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu, Keke
Palmer and Lili Reinhart -- cost $20 million to produce.
Not all holdovers were as fortunate. Warner Bros.' "The
Goldfinch" plummeted to No. 15, scraping together just $760,000
from 2,542 theaters during its second weekend in theaters. Ansel
Elgort stars in the movie adaptation of Donna Tartt's Pulitzer
Prize-winning novel, which has made $4.5 million to date. Though
Amazon Studios co-financed "The Goldfinch," the $45 million film
still stands to be a big money loser for Warner Bros.
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