Despicable Me 3

Weekend Box Office: The House Doesn’t Always Win

Not all sequels are smash hits. Not all stars have power. And not all small-time directors are limited to small-time numbers. This weekend’s box office results weren’t exactly predictable, but they’re pleasantly fitting.

As expected, Gru and the Minions finished their opening weekend in the top spot with a total that Pixar can’t even reach these days – but that doesn’t mean they performed as well as their predecessors. ‘Despicable Me 3‘ debuted to $75.4 million. When compared to the other three Despicable-verse titles, that number ranks third behind ‘Minions’ ($115.7 million) and ‘Despicable Me 2’ ($83.5 million). Friday numbers were very strong, but Saturday’s dipped significantly, ultimately causing the three-quel to finish more than $10 million behind Universal’s Saturday morning expectations. Internationally, the family film started rolling out two weeks ago. This weekend yielded $95.6 million overseas, bringing its foreign box office to $116.9 million. The $80 million picture has made $192.3 million worldwide so far.

Edgar Wright may make cult hits, but none of his films have been big box office successes… until now. ‘Baby Driver‘ outgrossed expectations and easily became Wright’s biggest opener. In fact, if it keeps up this pace, it will be his highest-grossing film within the next several days. The comedic heist movie grossed $21 million over the weekend and $9 million on Wednesday and Thursday, giving it a $30 million domestic total. Overseas, it earned $6.8 million from 15 markets. Budgeted at $34 million, the film’s $36.8 million worldwide opening suggests a healthy theatrical run.

Last weekend’s top movie finished its second week in the #3 spot thanks to a 62% dip in attendance. ‘Transformers: The Last Knight‘ pulled another $17 million, bringing its domestic ten-day total up to $102.1 million. With a budget of $217 million, that number would be depressing for Paramount if not for the foreign box office. Another $68 million was collected overseas, bringing the movie’s international total to $327.8 million. With $429.9 million worldwide over the last ten days, ‘The Last Knight’ nears profitability.

With five-week-old ‘Wonder Woman‘ dropping no more than 35% each week, DC’s latest is stil on a roll. Finishing the weekend at #4, the superheroine film grossed $16.1 million, bringing its domestic total up to $346.6 million. The $149 million blockbuster has become nearly profitable with its domestic numbers alone. The strong international numbers, which are up to $361.8 million, are almost purely profit. This coming weekend brings ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’, which may be the first comparable superhero movie to make a dent in Diana Prince’s performance.

Like ‘Transformers’, three-week-old ‘Cars 3‘ also took a major hit over the weekend due to more appealing competition. The Pixar title fell far last week, only to fall even farther this week. It dropped 60% and only pulled $9.5 million. Rounding out the Top 5, the film’s domestic earnings are now at $120.7 million and its still-limited foreign totals are at $53.1 million.

When it comes to gambling, the house does not always win. Case in point: Will Ferrell’s new R-rated comedy ‘The House‘. The movie grossed just $9 million from 3,134 locations, for a $2,872 per-screen average. This makes it the lowest-ever opening for a movie headlined by the ‘SNL’ alum. Overseas, it opened in 20 markets and yielded $2.7 million. Budgeted at $40 million – which is baffling to me – Warner Bros. should have placed its bet elsewhere.

After months of post-Sundance buzz and marketing, ‘The Little Hours‘ did solid numbers from its limited two-screen opening. The comedy made $61,560 and an impressive per-screen average of $30,780.

Top 10:

1. ‘Despicable Me 3’ (Universal) – $75,410,275

2. ‘Baby Driver’ (Sony) – $21,000,000

3. ‘Transformers: The Last Knight’ (Paramount) – $17,000,000

4. ‘Wonder Woman’ (Warner Bros.) – $16,100,000

5. ‘Cars 3’ (Buena Vista) – $9,524,000

6. ‘The House’ (Warner Bros.) – $9,000,000

7. ’47 Meters Down’ (Entertainment Studios) – $4,682,000

8. ‘The Beguiled’ (Focus) – $3,259,740

9. ‘The Mummy’ (Universal) – $2,785,260

10. ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’ (Buena Vista) – $2,411,000

1 comment

  1. Bolo

    I definitely did not expect ‘Baby Driver’ to do anywhere near that well. I guess good reviews do count for something.

    If that nun movie ever plays near me I will see it. It sounds like ‘Black Narcissus’ done a comedy. Could be fun.

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