August may be a notoriously slow month at the box office, but Warner Bros. has now delivered back-to-back strong performers. Last weekend The Meg topped all expectations and continued its strong global performance this weekend, while the new release of Crazy Rich Asians delivered an estimated $34 million in its first five days of release. Between the two films, WB secured the weekend's top two spots, and helped deliver the third straight August weekend this year to top the same weekend last year. Unfortunately, the weekend's two other new wide releases, STX's Mile 22 and Sony's Alpha, weren't able to have such splashy debuts.
With an estimated $34 million, Crazy Rich Asians topped industry expectations and came up just shy of Mojo's aggressive, pre-weekend forecast. The film is having a profound impact as the first Asian-led, major Hollywood studio film to hit theaters since The Joy Luck Club 25 years ago and word of mouth continues to spread following the film's Wednesday opening.
Made on a reported $30 million production budget*, the film was met with plenty of fanfare heading into the weekend, including a strong 74 rating on Metacritic, and audiences agreed to the tune of an "A" CinemaScore on opening day. Following the film's Wednesday opening, it entered the weekend with $8.8 million in its coffers and is now estimated to have delivered just shy of $25.2 million over the three-day weekend. Looking ahead, the film should surely top $100 million domestically.
Internationally, Crazy Rich Asians debuted in just six markets this weekend, bringing in an estimated $730,000 led by the Netherlands with $208k. The film is following a staggered release pattern overseas, with key markets such as Australia opening on August 30 followed by a mid-September release in the UK.
WB also snagged the second spot on the weekend chart with a solid sophomore showing from The Meg. The creature feature followed up its stellar opening weekend with an estimated $21.15 million (-53%) this weekend, pushing the film's domestic cume over $84 million after just ten days in release.
Internationally, The Meg continues its strong performance, bringing in an estimated $67 million from 55 markets, pushing the film's overseas gross to $230.4 million for a global cume totaling nearly $315 million. China leads the way with $117.2 million followed by Mexico ($13.6m), UK ($11m), Russia ($10m), Spain ($6m), Indonesia ($5.1m), Malaysia ($4.2m), Brazil ($4.5m), Italy ($3.8m), Germany ($3.6m), UAE ($3.52m) and Taiwan ($3.5m). The film opens in France this week and will then debut in Japan in early September.
STX's Mile 22 came in a bit behind expectations, delivering an estimated $13.6 million from 3,520 locations. Working against the film domestically is a negative critical reception (40 on Metacritic) and opening day audiences scored the film with a lackluster "B-" CinemaScore. Of that audience, 60% were male and 73% were 25 years of age or older.
Carrying a reported $50 million budget, the Mark Wahlberg feature was developed as a potential franchise starter for the star and director Peter Berg. However, after the softer-than-expected domestic debut, eyes turn to the international markets where it is expected to have its largest impact, especially in Asia and Latin America. That said, the film debuted in just six territories this weekend, delivering an estimated $538,000. Leading the way was a $137k debut in Singapore followed by a $124k opening in Taiwan. Looking ahead, the film will open in the Middle East, Hong Kong and Russia next week followed by openings in France (Aug 29), Australia, (Aug 30), New Zealand (Aug 30), Mexico (Aug 31), Germany (Sep 13), United Kingdom (Sep 19), Brazil (Sep 20), Spain (Sep 28) and Italy (Nov 15). A China release date has not yet been set.
Sony's Alpha, finished with an estimated $10.5 million for the weekend. The performance is on par with studio expectations and easily outperforms Mojo's pre-weekend expectations. The film was made on what is being reported as a "$50+ million" budget, which will put a little pressure on its overseas performance after this domestic debut. The film was, however, well received by critics (62 on Metacritic) and audiences gave it a "B+" CinemaScore. Of that audience, 56% were male and 41% were 25 years or older.
Rounding out the top five (currently in a tie for fourth with Alpha) is Paramount's Mission: Impossible - Fallout, which continues its strong run, adding an estimated $10.5 million to its domestic total this weekend, pushing the film's cume over $180 million. Internationally, the film grossed an estimated $20.5 million this weekend in 61 markets, pushing the film's global cume over $500 million while maintaining a ~17% lead internationally over Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation for the same group of markets currently in release. Fallout hits theaters in Italy on August 29 and China on August 31.
Outside the top five, Focus's BlacKkKlansman dipped just 35.5% for an estimated $7 million weekend and a domestic cume that now tops $23 million.
In ninth position Hotel Transylvania 3 added $3.67 million for a domestic cume that now totals over $158 million, but it's internationally where we turn our attention. The third film in the franchise opened in China this weekend with a reported $16.9 million, surpassing the lifetime gross of Hotel Transylvania 2 in the market in just three days. The film's international cume has now blossomed to $272.1 million for a worldwide gross totaling $426 million, topping the global cume for the first film and just ~$47 million behind Hotel Transylvania 2.
In limited release, Sony Classics's The Wife brought in an estimated $111,137 from four theaters ($27,784 PTA); The Orchard's We the Animals delivered $66,261 from three theaters ($22,087 PTA); Roadside debuted Juliet, Naked in four theaters to the tune of $60,922 ($15,231 PTA); IFC's Blaze opened in three theaters with $45,342 ($15,114 PTA); and Music Box released Memoir of War into two theaters where it brought in an estimated $10,710.
| TW | LW | Title (click to view) | Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Theater Count / Change | Average | Total Gross | Budget* | Week # | |
| 1 | N | Crazy Rich Asians | WB | $26,510,140 | - | 3,384 | - | $7,834 | $35,276,909 | $30 | 1 |
| 2 | 1 | The Meg | WB | $21,151,012 | -53.4% | 4,118 | - | $5,136 | $83,760,074 | $130 | 2 |
| 3 | N | Mile 22 | STX | $13,710,825 | - | 3,520 | - | $3,895 | $13,710,825 | $50 | 1 |
| 4 | 2 | Mission: Impossible - Fallout | Par. | $10,773,347 | -44.3% | 3,482 | -406 | $3,094 | $181,012,068 | $178 | 4 |
| 5 | N | Alpha | Studio 8 | $10,352,512 | - | 2,719 | - | $3,807 | $10,352,512 | $51 | 1 |
| 6 | 3 | Disney's Christopher Robin | BV | $8,861,530 | -31.6% | 3,602 | - | $2,460 | $66,878,940 | - | 3 |
| 7 | 5 | BlacKkKlansman | Focus | $7,383,195 | -31.9% | 1,788 | +276 | $4,129 | $23,392,685 | $15 | 2 |
| 8 | 4 | Slender Man | SGem | $4,801,712 | -57.8% | 2,358 | - | $2,036 | $20,578,291 | $10 | 2 |
| 9 | 9 | Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation | Sony | $3,768,479 | -27.7% | 2,187 | -402 | $1,723 | $153,962,179 | $80 | 6 |
| 10 | 7 | Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again | Uni. | $3,405,405 | -41.9% | 2,270 | -542 | $1,500 | $111,222,895 | $75 | 5 |
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