Whatever the numbers happen to be by the time the weekend finishes, there will be no good news coming from this Labor Day weekend at thebox office. Last weekend was the worst box office weekend in 15 years, and even that had the bonus of at least one new release,Leap!, charting in the top five. This weekend won’t even have that minute accomplishment to hang its hat on, as neither the re-release ofClose Encounters of the Third Kindor the much-delayedTulip Feverlook to be garnering much interest from American audiences.
To its credit,Leap!has hung in there. The disposable Canadian import is now at number four with $1 million, a whole $8,105 up from the best movie currently in wide release,Logan Lucky, which seems to be hanging tight at number five. Both benefit from having little competition from the new openers, as doesWind River, which continues its incremental ascension in the top five to land at number three with $1.5 million, eyeing a $5-6 million toll for the whole weekend.
To give you a full sense of how dire this weekend is at the movies,Wind Riverhas already accumulated whatTulip Feverhopes to bring in by the end of the weekend. The 3D re-release ofClose Encounters of the Third Kindwill do a bit better, eyeing $1.9 million for the whole weekend, butAnnabelle: Creation, holding steady at number two, has already brought in that much in a little over a single day, as it currently stands with well over $1.8 million at the domestic box office.
The only arguable winner in all of this isThe Hitman’s Bodyguard, a by-the-books action romp only enlivened byRyan Reynold’s sarcasm andSamuel L. Jackson’s pronunciation of “motherfucker.” For plenty of audiences, that seems to be just enough, along with some CGI blood spurts, a few car crashes, andGary Oldman’s dreadful Russian accent. It looks all but certain that the movie will win the weekend, giving this polished trash an undeserved hat trick and making the likelihood of a sequel more and more plausible. The actioner is currently at number one with $2.4 million and looks to be heading toward over $9 million by the end of Sunday, meaning that this weekend runs the risk of bearing the worst gross in nearly two decades. Hopefully,Itand Pennywise will end this suffering quickly and thoroughly next weekend.
Here’s the top five for Friday:
Friday Domestic BO
Total Domestic BO
- ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’
$2,430,000
$47,124,214
2. ‘Annabelle: Creation’
$1,830,000
$83,505,598
3. ‘Wind River’
$1,500,000
$13,922,437
4. ‘Leap!’
$1,071,000
$7,565,803
5. ‘Logan Lucky’
$1,063,105
$18,093,592
