Box Office: ‘Angel Has Fallen’ to Win Modest Labor Day Weekend

Dave McNary

Click here to read the full article.

Gerard Butler and Morgan Freeman are showing staying power at the North American box office as “Angel Has Fallen” heads for a passable $15 million Labor Day holiday weekend, late afternoon estimates showed Friday.

The third entry in Lionsgate-Millennium’s action franchise will finish the frame with about $44 million in its first 11 days. Butler stars as a Secret Service Agent trying to clear his name after being framed for an attack on the U.S. President, played by Freeman.

More from Variety

“Angel Has Fallen,” which took in $21 million in its opening weekend, will easily top the third weekend of Universal’s R-rated comedy “Good Boys” during the four-day frame. “Good Boys” should take in around $10 million, lifting its 18-day total to about $57 million.

Disney’s seventh weekend of its photorealistic remake of “The Lion King” and Sony’s second weekend of faith-based drama “Overcomer” will battle for third place with about $8 million each. “The Lion King” will wind up the weekend with about $522 million domestically.

Universal’s fifth frame of “Hobbs & Shaw” should follow in fifth with around $7 million. The Fast and Furious spinoff, starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, will finish Labor Day at around $157 million domestically.

Supernatural thriller “Don’t Let Go” is likely to debut with an unexceptional $3 million at 922 North American locations over the four days, which is at the lower end of modest expectations. “Don’t Let Go” stars David Oyelowo as a detective working to solve a murder after he receives a phone call from his dead niece, played by Storm Reid.

“Don’t Let Go” was produced by Jason Blum and directed by Jacob Aaron Estes, with Blumhouse Tilt and OTL Releasing handling distribution. Reviews have been mixed with a 44% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. “Don’t Let Go” has a small $5 million production budget.

Also opening this weekend is Forrest Films’ drama “Bennett’s War” at 970 sites with moviegoers showing little interest in the story of a motocross star, played by Michael Roark, who returns to the track despite being wounded during military service in Afghanistan. Early estimates placed the four-day total at a microscopic $600,000.

The final weekend of the summer season is arriving with year-to-date domestic box office at $7.67 billion, down 6.6% from 2018 as of Aug. 28. Total box office for summer has edged up 0.8% to $4.73 billion, according to Comscore. Last year’s Labor Day weekend was dominated by the third frame of “Crazy Rich Asians,” which took in $28 million over the four days.

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.