SUICIDE SQUAD TAKES ADVANTAGE OF WEAK COMPETITION AND BECOMES DC’S FIRST MOVIE TO CLAIM TOP SPOT AT THE BOX OFFICE THREE WEEKENDS IN A ROW
How weak was this week’s newcomers?
Put it to you this way, the top two movies from last weekend are the top two again this weekend. All three of Hollywood’s new titles under performed, falling short of their initial box office projections and giving Suicide Squad enough breathing room to claim its third weekend in a row (something neither Batman Vs. Superman nor Man of Steel could do).
This is a much needed win for Suicide Squad, which saw it’s second weekend gross fall 67% (less than BvS’s 69% drop but more than MoS’s 64%). What must be especially painful for Warner Bros. is that Squad, which has been on the wrong side of scathing reviews since its release three weeks ago, was supposed to fix DC’s much-maligned cinematic universe. But while it’s failed to do that, it is keeping the accountants at Warner happy. It raked in another 20.7 million this weekend to bring it’s domestic total to 262.3 million. Suicide Squad (which also shattered the record for the biggest August opening) is only the second movie this summer to hold the number one spot at the weekend box office three times in a row (Finding Dory was the only other). Maybe Warner’s plan is, if you can’t be good, at least be rich.
Meanwhile Seth Rogen’s animated raunchfest Sausage Party held onto the number two spot for the second week in a row. It gobbled up an additional 15.3 million to bring its two-week total to an impressive 65.3 million. Based against its budget of 19 million, Sony looks like it has a much-needed winner on its hands. Rogen is already lobbying for a sequel, and if Party continues on its current box office trajectory it’s likely he’ll get his wish. But while recent accusations over how poorly animators were treated during filming may not cause the current movie any grief, they could hurt both Sausage Party’s-and Sony’s-long term brand.
This week also saw the weakest batch of newcomers this summer has offered so far. Warner Bros. War Dogs opened in third with 14.3 million despite strong name recognition for the director and cast. Kubo and the Two Strings opened with a disappointing 12.6 million despite early Oscar buzz (Laika pics have never been big audience draws despite being critical darlings). And rounding out the top five was Paramount’s very pricey Ben-Hur remake, flopping to a paltry 11.35 million.
Ben-Hur had a budget of 100 million (not including advertising and promotion) and looks like it will be a very expensive failure. Considering that Paramount may already have some red summer ink from Star Trek Beyond’s lukewarm box office (Beyond has already fallen out of the top ten, despite opening number one a few weeks ago), this summer is probably going to cost an unfortunate exec or two their job. Is the ill-fated (not to mention ill-advised) remake of the celebrated Charleton Heston classic an indication of remake fatigue? Was it the result of almost recognizable stars? Or was it the slew of terrible reviews? It’s probably a combination of all three.
Disney’s family friendly Pete’s Dragon showed some strong second weekend chops, only falling 47% to add another 11.3 million to its 42.3 million domestic total (Pete almost held onto fifth spot since it finished less than twenty thousand dollars behind underachieving newcomer Ben-Hur). Bad Mom’s added another 8 million and the adult comedy, currently sitting at 85.8 million, is now within striking distance of the 100 million mark. That may not sound like a big deal for most summer movies, but for a 20 million dollar comedy during a down year from a small studio, it’s huge.
Jason Bourne showed some resiliency by adding another 7.98 million to its 140.8 bottom line. And Secret Life of Pets continues to display amazing summer staying power, pulling in another 5.7 million for a whopping domestic total of 346.7 million (in related news, Pets knocked the much newer Suicide Squad out of top spot internationally). Meryl Streep’s latest award vehicle Florence Foster Jenkins rounded out this weekend’s top ten, bringing its two week total up to 13.4 million by adding 4.3 million this weekend.
Now that summer’s all but over, we’ll take a look at this year’s winner and losers next week. While many considered 2016 a weak summer, there were still some clear-cut champs deserving of recognition. If anything, it may be a Herculean task to whittle down all the disappointments and flops to a manageable list. Until then, stay safe and don’t sneak in the back.
Sources Box Office Mojo, Forbes and Deadline
Photo: Warner Bros Pictures
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