Universal transferred its late-summer form to the fall as it locked out the front row of the box office yet again.
The studio’s new animated flick “Abominable” opened ahead of last weeks number 1 “Downton Abbey” to the sound of $20.5M at the domestic box office. Not only does this rack up yet another #1 weekend for Universal, but it also marks only the third time an original movie has topped the box office on its opening weekend this year, following two other universal titles, Jordan Peele’s “Us” and the Seth Rogen produced comedy “Good Boys”. The Jill Culton and Todd Wilderman directed movie also snagged 8.8M overseas.
The film it replaced, The Universal distributed “Downton Abbey,” also did solid business for the studio, bringing in $14.5M in its second weekend, lifting it’s domestic total to near $60M ($58.5M), and pushing its worldwide tally, with the help of another $10M internationally, over the $10 barrier, as it sits on $107M.
Yet again having a great week, and in a very respectable third place is STX’s “Hustlers’.” A film that seems to be continuing to roll on at the box office as the good word spread, this weekend saw it take an impressive $11.47M, taking its domestic total past $80M, whilst its worldwide tally will enter three figures this time next week.
In its fourth weekend, Warner Bros “IT: Chapter Two” scared up $10.4M as it nears the $200M domestic mark (should get there in 1/2 weeks), whilst its worldwide total is now at $417M, as its cinematic run looks set to end much lower than the $700M the first film ended on.
In fifth is James Gray and Brad Pitt’s “Ad Astra” continues now to fall well below studio expectations as it mustered $10.1M domestic for a total now at $35.5M, whilst its semi-decent $18M overseas now takes it global tally to just shy of $90M.
By far the most notable story in the limited (well slightly limited) release was Roadside’s Oscar player “Judy” starring Renee Zellweger as the legendary Judy Garland. The film dipped its toe in the water this weekend opening in just 461 locations, but amassed an impressive $3.09M, a total that will give the studio huge confidence that the film can perform above itself upon wide release.
It’s wide release ambitions may be dampened however as next week could very well bring the arrival of a box office juggernaut, as Warner Bros releases the hugely anticipated Joaquin Phoenix starring “Joker” which looks to be on track (according to industry experts) for a $100m+ opening, and will maybe look to top the highest R rated opening of $132.7M that Ryan Reynolds ‘Deadpool’ managed in 2016.
And just like that, after Venice and Telluride, the Best Actor race is taking shape, with Andrew Scott (“Elsinore”) and John Malkovich (“Wild Horse Nine”) emerging as major contenders.