Box office: ‘PAW Patrol,’ ‘Saw X’ deliver 1-2 sequel punch over ‘The Creator’
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Four new movies ended a month full of sequels, some of which did better than others, but in this case the sequels ended up doing better than most expected, and there were some bona fide surprises. Read on for the weekend box office report.
The big winner of the weekend was Paramount Pictures’ “PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie,” the first family film to get a theatrical release in months. It entered theaters with an 81% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, though it was essentially a review-proof movie with name-brand value among parents with kids. It opened in second place on Friday with $6.8 million but then grossed a solid $23 million (estimated) for the weekend. It received an “A” CinemaScore, which was not surprising due to its appeal to those same parents with kids.
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Lionsgate released “Saw X,” the 10th chapter in the horror franchise that just won’t die, into 3,262 theaters on Friday. It received the best reviews of the entire franchise — in fact, it’s the only installment with a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. After making $2 million in Thursday previews and winning Friday with $8 million (including those previews), it has reportedly earned an estimated $18 million in its opening weekend, which is more than the $16.6 million “Jigsaw” opened with in 2017. “Saw X” also received a “B” CinemaScore, same as many previous installments, including “Jigsaw.”
Reviews for Gareth Edwards‘s “The Creator” were quite good earlier last week, but the film eventually dropped to 67% on Rotten Tomatoes by the time it opened in 3,680 theaters on Friday. Starring John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Allison Janney and newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles, it made $1.6 million in previews and came in third place on Friday with $5.6 million. Ultimately, it ended up making an estimated $14 million over the weekend, which has to be seen as a massive disappointment for 20th Century Studios. It received a “B+” CinemaScore, which is middling at best, so we’ll have to see if it’s helped by word-of-mouth as well as having a box office-friendly PG-13 rating. “The Creator” did slightly better overseas, where it grossed $18.3 million for a global opening of $32.3 million.
One of the bigger sequel successes of the past month was the horror film “The Nun II,” which took fourth place this weekend with $4.7 million, down just 45% in its fourth weekend. It has grossed $76.8 million so far domestically, which is less than the prior film but still profitable when you add in international money. This weekend it added another $12.8 million to bring its overseas gross to $154.4 million, with $231.2 million grossed worldwide. Warner Bros. has yet to announce “The Nun III,” although “The Conjuring 4: Last Rites” is already in development.
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Every once in a while we get blindsided by a movie, and that’s what happened this weekend as a faith-based drama called “The Blind” was released into 1,714 theaters. Directed by Andrew Hyatt (who also has the unrelated “Sight” coming out later in October), it stars Aron von Andrian as TV reality star Phil Robertson from “Duck Dynasty,” telling the story about how he fought demons to start his family. Fathom Events opened the movie on Thursday, where it made $840,000, and then it made $4.1 million over the weekend, averaging $2,403 per theater, as Fathom Events continues to have bigger hits with each of their releases.
Kenneth Branagh‘s murder mystery “A Haunting in Venice” had to settle for sixth place with $3.8 million, down 40%, to bring its domestic total to $31.6 million. It added another $7 million overseas to bring its international haul to $58.2 million, for a total of $89.8 million grossed globally.
Sony expanded Craig Gillespie‘s “Dumb Money” further nationwide into 2,837 theaters, but it only made slightly more than last weekend with $3.5 million to take seventh place. It has made $7.3 million so far, and it doesn’t seem likely it will go too much further.
The ensemble action flick “Expend4bles” is proving to be one of the biggest bombs of the year, as it dropped from second place all the way down to ninth place with $2.5 million, down 69%, to bring its two-week total to $13.3 million. It will be dumped from most theaters next weekend and gone by its fourth weekend.
Also, it was beaten by “The Equalizer 3” in its fifth weekend. It took eighth place with $2.7 million, down 43%. The Denzel Washington vehicle has grossed $85.9 million so far.
“Barbie” had its biggest drop to date, losing 1,332 theaters on Friday and making $1.4 million (down 55%) to take 10th place with $633 million grossed domestically.
The Talking Heads concert film “Stop Making Sense” expanded into 786 theaters where it made roughly $1 million, just a little more than its IMAX release last weekend. It has grossed $3 million, compared to the $5 million made in its initial 1984 release.
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Most players had either “The Creator” or “Saw X” winning the weekend in the Gold Derby box office prediction game, and only 16 players had “The Creator” opening in third place. Most players also had “Dumb Money” placing higher than it actually ended up. “The Blind” wasn’t in our predictions center this week, and only ONE player correctly predicted “None of These” taking fifth place this weekend, so just one person could have gotten six out of six.
“HazardousKirby” was the only player to get all six predictions correct in the Sept. 22 box office game, as well as scoring 32,589 points.
On Friday David Gordon Green‘s horror “requel” “The Exorcist: Believer” will open nationwide, so check back on Wednesday to see how it might do. Also, make sure to check out the October preview of movies being released both nationwide and in select cities.
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