As tends to be the case when there’s no big opener to hang box office hopes on, this weekend at the multiplex is already looking odd.The Hitman’s Bodyguard, a by-the-numbers action-comedy notable only for its leads, will likely hold steady in the number one spot as it did yesterday, bringing in $3.1 million.Annabelle: Creationwill also likely remain in the second spot, where it took in $2.5 million on Friday, but after that, things are a bit shook-up currently.
Animated openerLeap!debuted in third place with $1.6 million, kickingThe Nut Job 2out of the top five for good. The marketing forLeap!was very mild, which may explain how its performing so tepidly despite it being perfectly fine fodder for kids. (The creators of the movie might have done better had they pushed the fact that this is the movie that gifted usCarly Rae Jepsen’s sublime “Cut to the Feeling.") It will remain in the top five for this weekend and possibly next weekend but by the timeItshows up, it will make its graceful exit.
The stranger arrival is the ascension ofTyler Sheridan’sWind River, which currently sits in the fourth spot with $1.4 million in its second frame in wide release. (The thriller has been in limited release since the beginning of August, making its sudden appearance all the more remarkable.) Sheridan’s film, an involving, amiable murder mystery starringElizabeth OlsenandJeremy Renner, has picked up some word-of-mouth steam since its limited debut on August 4th but the smart money was onWind Riverdoing better on VOD than in theaters. Still, it’s hard to imagineWind Riverwill survive in the top five for longer than this bleak weekend at the box office.
Its popularity does make some sense when one considers thatWind Riveris a cohesive, enjoyable, and innocuous movie with the veneer of serious drama, compared to the shenanigans ofThe Hitman’s Bodyguardor the basic-template scares ofAnnabelle: Creation. Meanwhile, a genuinely great movie likeLogan Lucky, which is currently at number five with $1.3 million on Friday, remains stuck in the lower depths. All of these movies have at least one more weekend to make a dent in their budgets, with onlyTulip Feveropening wide next weekend, but onceItarrives, all bets are off.
Here’s your top five for Friday:
Friday Domestic BO
Total Domestic BO
- ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’
$3,150,000
$32,714,004
2. ‘Annabelle: Creation’
$2,550,000
$73,080,384
3. ‘Leap!’
$1,627,280
4. ‘Wind River’
$1,446,567
$6,876,780
5. ‘Logan Lucky’
$1,335,000
$12,002,414
