By: Keaton Marcus

Diving into the weekend, Universal got their third straight weekend on top with their hit comedy Good Boys which topped the charts, as well as severely outperforming its meager expectations. Hobbs & Shaw had another impressive weekend, sitting in runner-up in its third three-day in release, and continues its way uphill to break even with its massive production budget. Holdover The Lion King managed to keep velocity in third, and is nearing 500 million domestically, and also slightly topped animated sequel The Angry Birds Movie 2 which got pummeled. Otherwise, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark rounded out the top five while three other wide releases finished outside the top five including 47 Meters Down: Uncaged, Blinded by the Light and Where’d You Go, Bernadette?.

Topping the charts was Universal’s R-rated coming-of-age comedy Good Boys which laughed its way on top with an estimated 21M in ticket sales. Playing at approximately 3,204 sites across the states, the well-received picture averaged $6,654 per-screen. Not only outranking its conservative 11-13M pre-weekend expectations, the film also was one of the only hit comedies of the year, and is impressive especially cause of the recent coming-of-age flop that was Booksmart. Compared to other films, Boys managed to top both The Upside (20.3M), and the R-rated Blockers (20.5M), but did fall a little behind the likes of Bad Moms which scored 23.8M back in 2016. For the finish, the average multiplier of the film’s competition reaches an impressive 4.4x, which would technically mean an estimated ending of around 92M, but that seems a little too lofty. Considering that, we take in the performance for Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising which ended with a 2.6x multiplier, meaning a finish around 55M. Time will tell.

Internationally, Good Boys earned an estimated 2.1M from only 13 material markets, resulting in an official global debut of 23.1M. The film’s international opening was lead by a 1M debut in the UK. Next weekend, the film is to be released in France, Germany, Spain and Austria, followed by releases in Italy and Australia in September, and an early October launch in Mexico.

Review wise, the picture received generally positive reception from critics, and also benefited from extremely strong reaction from opening day audiences. On Rotten Tomatoes, the picture scored an impressive 80% “Certified Fresh”, and on similar website Metacritic, the film was handed a decent enough 60/100. Audiences on the other hand supposedly enjoyed what they saw, giving it an excellent 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, accompanied by a B+ CinemaScore.

In runner-up, Universal showed again with their other big release Hobbs & Shaw, which grossed a third weekend of 14.1M, sliding only 44% from its second weekend on top, while tallying a solid if unspectacular 133.7M after 17 days in North American release. The film is pacing far behind its previous installments, which says that audiences are finding less interest in the franchise, however, its still mirroring the performance for Kong: Skull Island which topped 168M domestically. Internationally, Hobbs & Shaw added an estimated 45.7M from its overseas markets, reaching 303.3M overseas for a worldwide total topping 437M. Its estimated that the picture needs around 600 million globally to break even with its massive 200 million cost, and with an anticipated Chinese release in the horizon, its certainly possible.

Third holds Disney’s remarkably successful remake of The Lion King, which made another 11.9M on the weekend of August 16-18, sliding 41.1%, resulting in a North American gross of 496.1M, and will hopefully top 500 million this week. Overseas, the divisive, but expensive movie added an estimated 33.8M for an international haul standing at 939.1M and a global total of 1.435B, its now the second biggest global release of the year.

Taking fourth position is the second newcomer of this crowded weekend, Sony’s animated sequel The Angry Birds Movie 2, which killed any other plans for sequels with an estimated 10.5M from a massive 3,869 sites—this results in a six-day performance of just 16.2M. The children’s feature film doesn’t just compare poorly to the original film, which earned over 38 million in its initial weekend, the sequel also missed its meager expectations of 13M for the three-day, and a six-day nearing 20 million dollars. Also, the budget craters to 65 million, meaning there’s in need of some serious overseas help. On a positive side, the film received good reception, with a solid 76% “Fresh” on RottenTomatoes, with an additional 60/100 on Metacritic. Audiences handed it a B+ CinemaScore.

Rounding out the top five was Lionsgate’s newest horror production of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark which dipped a reasonable 51.9% to a sophomore session of 10M resulting in an impressive domestic haul of 40.2M from 10 days in release. The well-reviewed scare-fest continued its overseas performance with an additional 5.6M for the weekend, for a foreign gross of 14.1M and a global total of 54.3M.

Right outside of the top five, Entertainment Studios’ shark sequel 47 Meters Down: Uncaged disappointed with an estimated 9M from 2,853 theaters. This compares disappointingly to the studio’s original expectations reaching 15-16M, and didn’t touch even our conservative predictions reaching 11M. The budget only tallies to 12 million, meaning it should be simple to break even, but it still misses the mark of the original 47 Meters Down which opened to 11.2M on a cost of only 5.5 million back in 2017. Reviews for the film were mixed, scoring a so-so 50% “Rotten” on RottenTomatoes, and an even more skeptical 44/100 on Metacritic. Audiences gave it a C+ CinemaScore.

The last two wide releases debuted in ninth place, and eleventh position respectively, and both flopped. First, WB’s Blinded by the Light opened to only 4.4M from 2,307 locations on a production budget reaching 15 million, meaning the film might have to make around 25 million to break even. Reviews for the film were excellent, and audiences gave it an A- CinemaScore. Despite the reception, this is once again another Warner Bros. produced disappointment, following The Kitchen last week. Secondly, United Artists Releasing’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette? cratered in its debut, opening to only 3.4M from 2,404 sites on a budget capping 18 million, meaning the picture would need nearly 35 million to break even. Reviews were disappointingly mixed, and audiences gave it a B CinemaScore.

Next weekend, three additional nationwide releases come to the plate. First, we have an early start for horror film Ready or Not which starts Wednesday in 2,300 theaters. Otherwise, Lionsgate will release the third installment to the Olympus has Fallen series, Angel has Fallen, which is heading to release in 3,000+ locations. Finally, Sony’s faith-based movie dubbed Overcomer will head to theaters in 1,700 sites.

TOP FIVE:

Good Boys
Hobbs & Shaw
The Lion King (2019)
The Angry Birds Movie 2
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark