“It Chapter Two” has a Strong Hold, Repeating on Top

By: Keaton Marcus

Diving into the weekend, WB’s hit horror sequel It: Chapter Two scared the box office once again, topping the charts—holding solidly domestically, and ripping some considerable numbers internationally. STX’s Hustlers delivered a smashing opening in runner-up, giving the studio their biggest opening yet—this is while the tired holdovers including Angel has Fallen, Good Boys and The Lion King round the top five, a last thrill before the grave. Otherwise, The Goldfinch debuted outside the top five with horribly disappointing results.

Taking the box office once again was Warner Bros. and New Line’s R-rated Stephen King adaptation and sequel It: Chapter Two, which sold another 40.7M in ticket sales. The picture dipped a less-than-expected 55.3% from its strong opening, which is a particularly strong hold. After 10 days in release, the divisive horror movie has earned 153.8M in North America. Internationally, the film grossed an additional 47M from many material markets, adding to a foreign total of 169.5M, resulting in a global bout capping 323.3M. While it’s quickly falling behind its predecessor’s worldwide earnings (which tallied to over 370M after ten days), the film had a #1 opening in France, with an estimated 4.7M. Otherwise its still extremely impressive for an R-rated horror film (clearly not for everyone). This is while the UK remains the picture’s biggest market to date, tallying to 16.5M so far, and Japan remains the final key market for the film, set to be released November 1st.

Making the most noise this weekend was STX Entertainment’s Hustlers, which landed in runner-up with a solid 33.2M for the weekend. The stripper drama played at approximately 3,250 sites, and averaged a considerable $10,225 per-screen. Not only defying its 25-30 million pre-weekend expectations, or giving STX their biggest opening yet (topping Bad Moms with 23.8M), but also handing actress Jennifer Lopez her biggest live-action opening of all-time (trampling the 23.1M from Monster-in-Law). For a solid comparison for the domestic finish, we have 2017’s Girls Trip which delivered a strong debut of 31.2M, before claiming a 3.7x multiplier for a 115.1M North American close. Giving it to Hustlers, we could be eyeing a ending of around 122M.

Internationally, the 20 million production opened in its first 15 markets with an estimated 4.4M for an official global debut capping 37.6M. Various releases include the UK, which grossed 1.7M, followed by a 1.2M opening in the country of Russia.

Review wise, Hustlers opened to the Toronto Film Festival with some excellent critical reception, with decent enough opinions from opening day audiences. On RottenTomatoes, the film has a weighted average of 88% “Certified Fresh” on the Tomatometer, as well as a 69% audience approval rating. On Metacritic, we see a solid 80/100, critics say it has a career-best performance from Lopez, and has significant visual style. CinemaScore handed the flick a B- rating, pretty good, but certainly not the best.

Sliding way down money lane was Lionsgate’s Angel has Fallen, which took in an estimated 4.4M, sliding just 26.5% from last week, and tallying 60.3M domestically after 24 days of theatrical release. The picture continues to pace ahead of London has Fallen, and we are estimating a ending capping 70M.

In fourth place was Universal’s chugging comedy Good Boys, which managed to laugh up another 4.2M, dipping only 22.3% for a climbing domestic bout of 73.3M. Overseas, the film added a paltry 1.8M internationally, for a foreign gross of 18.3M for a worldwide total of 91.6M.

Rounding out the top five was Disney’s The Lion King which continued its astonishing performance with 3.5M over three days, for a North American running gross of 533.9M as it goes through its last week in the top five. This puts it in front of Rogue One (532.1M), making it the 12th biggest domestic release of all-time. Internationally, the global phenomenon added 6.9M for a foreign gross of 1.083B and a global bout of 1.616B.

All the way in eighth place was WB’s other new release, The Goldfinch, which bombed to an estimated 2.6M from 2,542 theaters, averaging just $1,039 per-screen. It also opened in 12 markets with just 985K for a worldwide opening of 3.6M, hardly suitable for a 45 million production.

Next weekend, we see an additional three nationwide releases preparing to battle It: Chapter Two for the top spot. First off, Fox’s Ad Astra is playing in an estimated 3,400 theaters, and is predicted for an 17-20M debut—this is closely followed by Lionsgate’s Rambo: Last Blood heaving to 3,300 sites—hoping for a 21M+ opening. A little ways behind is Focus Features’ Downton Abbey opening in exactly 3,050 locations, estimated for a 15-16M start.

TOP FIVE:

It Chapter Two
Hustlers
Angel has Fallen
Good Boys
The Lion King (2019)