Oh brother. It was a pretty bad week for the first new releases of September. Labor Day weekend isn’t known to draw huge crowds, but none of the newbies could draw the attention their respective studios wanted. But worse than that, one new release in particular did especially bad — even by the standards established this summer.
I’m talking about Morgan, the directorial debut of Luke Scott, son of producer Ridley Scott, which failed to make it into the top 10. It opened in 18th place (ouch!) to an extremely weak $1.86 million, which is the seventh worst wide opening ever, i.e. for a movie in 2,000-plus theaters. Yes, we’re talking Delgo territory folks. Yikes.
This sci-fi failure is going to disappear quick. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if it drops out of theaters almost entirely by this time next weekend. The latest from 20th Century Fox was a mere $6 million production, so it’s not a gigantic flop. But it’s going to have some serious trouble making back that limited budget. Let’s say goodbye to Morgan once-and-for-all. We hardly knew thee, though we barely wanted to.
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Also failing to impress was The Light Between Oceans, the newest film from Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond the Pines), which came in sixth place with $5 million. With a budget of $20 million, it’s going to be an uphill struggle. The film was met with mixed-to-positive reviews, though, and it does have award-favorites like Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander and Rachel Weisz in its corner. But it’s safe to write this one off as a flop too, unless it has some serious legs these next few weeks.
But hey, if Suicide Squad can have some legs, then maybe The Light Between Oceans can make a comeback too? The anti-superhero film was the number two movie of the weekend, coming in at $10 million during its fifth weekend in theaters. I’m going to avoid any snark or crass comments at this point. If people are seeing this movie, then they’re seeing the movie. What am I going to do about it? I just hope they’re enjoying themselves. Its $297.4 million total is good fuel for those fighting the good fight.
None of these films made it to number one, though. What did come in first place was Don’t Breathe, returning to the number one spot for the second weekend in-a-row. That’s the first time a horror film scored back-to-back number one spots since Ouija in 2014. Thankfully, Fede Alvarez’s latest is a much better film. With $51.1 million earned domestically, this one is definitely a hit for Sony, and a well deserved one.
It’s one of the most entertaining films in a disappointing season, and I’m glad to see it holding its own. I wish I could say the same for Kubo and the Two Strings, which came in fourth place with $6.5 million earned to its $34.3 million total.
Rounding out the weekend, Bad Moms crossed the $100 million mark as it came in seventh place and Pete’s Dragon is close to its $65 million budget as it holds $64.2 million during its fourth weekend. Meanwhile, Hell or High Water continues to expand and it worked its way into the top ten in the number nine spot, collecting $4.5 million. It’s only fitting to see the bank robbing drama steal its way to the top.
See the full box office report, courtesy of THR, Box Office Mojo and Forbes, below.
- Don’t Breathe Weekend: $15.7 million Domestic Total: $51.1 million
- Suicide Squad Weekend: $10 million Domestic Total: $297.4 million
- Pete’s Dragon Weekend: $6.4 million Domestic Total: $64.2 million
- Kubo and the Two Strings Weekend: $6.5 million Domestic Total: $34.3 million
- Sausage Party Weekend: $5.3 million Domestic Total: $88.4 million
- The Light Between Oceans Weekend: $5 million Domestic Total: $5 million
- Bad Moms Weekend: $4.74 million Domestic Total: $102.5 million
- War Dogs Weekend: $4.70 million Domestic Total: $35.2 million
- Hell or High Water Weekend: $4.5 million Domestic Total: $14.7 million
- Mechanic: Resurrection Weekend: $4.3 million Domestic Total: $14.4 million
