Suffocating Suicide Squad, Dont Breathe Inhales $26.4 Million To Blow Away Competition On August 26-28 Box Office Weekend
Suffocating Suicide Squad, Dont Breathe Inhales $26.4 Million To Blow Away Competition at the box office.
A new champion emerged at the box office this weekend, as audiences were in for a great scare. The horror film was the benefactor of very positive reviews, which certainly helped it find a good deal of commercial appeal. Over the past few years, the end of August has been a lucrative place for the genre, and this was no different. Don’t Breathe actually opened slightly higher than Fede Alvarez’s last movie, Evil Dead ($25.7 million), so this is a great start for the film.
It will be interesting to see how Don’t Breathe holds up over time. There’s a good chance that it has decent legs, especially since it’s generated strong word-of-mouth. The production budget was a measly $9.9 million, so it’s well on its way to turning a nice profit for ScreenGems. Alvarez is quickly climbing up the ranks as a premier horror director. The horror genre proves to be frighteningly reliable this season as “Don’t Breathe” is the latest scary flick to have an impressive box office showing. The film, from Sony’s Screen Gems and Steve Bersch’s Stage 6 Films, earned $10 million on Friday at 3,051 locations, and is eyeing a $22 million opening weekend. “Don’t Breathe” is a horror-thriller about three robbers in Detroit who target a man who they think is blind and helpless, but turns out to be anything but. It is directed by Fede Alvarez and stars Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto and Stephen Lang. Horror projects have shown an uncanny ability to draw crowds this year — New Line’s “The Conjuring 2” has earned over $100 million domestically and $320 million worldwide, while the same studio’s “Lights Out” has brought in a global sum of $111 million. Universal’s “The Purge: Election Year” also broke the $100 million milestone worldwide.
Falling to second in its fourth weekend is Suicide Squad with $12.2 million. The DC Comics adaptation had a stellar run throughout August due to limited competition, but the arrival of the acclaimed Don’t Breathe proved to be too much to deal with. It’s now up to $282.8 million domestically. The Warner Bros. film is in its fourth frame and has already earned well over $500 million worldwide.
In third is Kubo and the Two Strings with $7.8 million. The latest from Laika dropped just 37.3 percent in its second weekend, which is an excellent hold. While the film hasn’t found a large audience, there are still plenty of moviegoers supporting it, keeping it hanging around the top five for at least one more week. Its domestic total currently stands at $24.9 million.
The #4 film is Sausage Party, which made $7.5 million in its third weekend. The small-budgeted animated film is now up to $80 million domestically.
Rounding out the top five Mechanic: Resurrection. The action sequel brought in $7.4 million during its first three days, which was in line with expectations at 2,258 locations after earning $2.6 million on Friday. However, its performance is continued evidence that Jason Statham (as a solo headliner) isn’t the big star he once was, so it will be fascinating to see if he sticks with ensemble pieces like Fast & Furious for a while.
The film, about an assassin forced out of retirement, follows up on 2011’s “The Mechanic.” Specialty division Lionsgate Premiere is distributing the film, and is banking on success in the U.K. market. Outside of The Top Five: Capping off the top ten is Ben-Hur. The flop added $4.3 million to its domestic total, which now stands at $19.5 million.
This all comes in a summer where flops are aplenty. “Ben-Hur,” the $100 million production that debuted last weekend to a dismal $11 million and change, while sequels and reboots like “Independence Day: Resurgence” and “Ghostbusters” have underperformed as well. |
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al to $38.7 million.
Dont Breathe 26.4 Mil
Suicide Squad 12.4 Mil Kubo and the Two Strings 7.8 Mil Sausage Party 7.5 Mil The Mechanic: Resurrection 7.4 Mil |
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