Because Hollywood pretends Thursday previews are just part of Friday openings, boosting the opening day number with an extra night of receipts, “Abigail” was #1 on “Friday,” beating out “Civil War” by only a few thousand dollars.
The truth is that “Abigail” actually came in 2nd with $3 million as opposed to “Civil War” at $3.25 million. However, the former beat out the latter in Thursday previews and the overall two-day total. What cannot be hidden is the fact that “Civil War” dropped 70% from last Friday. Steep. The good news is that it’s a major hit in Brazil, thanks to the relentless marketing of actor Wagner Moura who has been banging the drums hard for the film in his home country.
Meanwhile, another film vying for the top spot is Guy Ritchie’s “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,” distributed by Lionsgate, which grossed $3.7 million from 2,845 locations — a figure that includes $1.45 million in preview screenings.
Hollywood’s obviously in a major period of transition because of last year’s strikes. Next week sees the release of the acclaimed “Challengers,” which, contrary to some experts, I’m still not convinced will be a hit with general audiences. We’ll see. Then, the following week, we get David Leitch’s buzzy “The Fall Guy.”