By Chris Kavan - 09/23/19 at 12:12 AM CT
It was a banner weekend for Focus Features, who can boast a new best opening weekend record for the studio thanks to the impressive opening of Downton Abbey. Second place is going to be a close one as both Ad Astra and Rambo: Last Blood are running neck-and-neck for the runner-up spot. That leaves It: Chapter 2 and Hustlers to round out the top five as the fall continues to shine.
1) DOWNTON ABBEY
Color me surprised. I figured Downton Abbey was going to be like most TV shows ported to the big screen and have a mildly successful though not spectacular opening. Wrong! Not only did Downton Abbey score the number one spot at the box office with a cool $31 million, it easily became the biggest opening for Focus Features, having little problem topping the $22.7 million for Insidious Chapter 3 - as well as their first film to top $30 million opening after 20 years in the distribution business. The film impressed both audiences and critics alike - with an "A" Cinemascore and a 95% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience breakdown was 74% female with 60% age 35 or older. It's obvious that fans of the show came out in droves to support the Crawley family on the big screen - now the big question is if the film can sustain itself for the next few weeks. Fan-driven films - even one that opens up as big as this - tend to be somewhat front-loaded, but this could be an exception. Even if it falls hard, the reported $13 million film has already doubled its budget and with an extra $10 million international, where its total stands at $31 million also. Given its opening, $75 million seems like a safe bet, with $80-$85 million possible.
2)
AD ASTRA
It's going to come down to the wire to see which film actually winds up in second place, but for now, Ad Astra has the slightest of edges with a current $19.2 million opening. Brad Pitt's heady sci-fi drama - billed as Apocalypse Now in space, opened in line with expectations, but has a lot of work to do it hopes to offset its reported $80-$100 million budget. This is a bit deep for general audiences, I think, and the film only scored a "B-" Cinemascore with 54% coming in male with 75% aged 25 or older. Critics like this well enough, but I just don't think it's going to catch on as the studio had hoped. It might catch on with older audiences yet, but $80 million is about the sky for this one as well. It also earned $26 million overseas, and it will need some more help on that front if it wants to become profitable, so we'll have to wait and see how it holds up over the next few weeks.
3)
RAMBO: LAST BLOOD
Coming in a just behind Ad Astra (for now) - Sylvester Stallone's final outing a John Rambo, Last Blood opened with $19 million. That opening is just above the $18.2 million for the last Rambo film, and also within the studio's expectations. Unlike Ad Astra, however, the budget for Last Blood is a mere $50 million - and it has a much better shot at becoming profitable with that budget. The audience, unsurprisingly, was mostly male (66%) with 42% coming in age 29 or older. They gave the film a "B" Cinemascore. Last Blood still scored the second-best opening for a Rambo film, behind First Blood part II - which opened with $20 million all the way back in 1985. That number, of course, doesn't factor in the inflation - but if it did, Last Blood would certainly be on the bottom of said list. Given the nature of the film, I'm surprised it hasn't played better, but as a final outing for an action hero (of sorts) I guess it's a good enough sendoff.
4)
IT: CHAPTER 2
After two weeks atop the box office, Pennywise and the Loser's Club took a 56.5% hit and settled in the fourth place position with $17.24 million and a new $179.1 million total, powering over the $175 million mark in the process. That puts it in the third place spot among all R-rated films on the domestic front. Once it inevitably crossed $200 million, it will become just the third R-rated horror film to hit that mark as well. It has already topped $200 million international ($205 million and counting) for a worldwide total of $385 million. That total puts it ahead of every Conjuring movie as well as The Quiet Place ($339 million) as it continues to play well here and abroad. This should have a few more good weeks ahead of it with Joker being the biggest threat in a couple of weeks.
5)
HUSTLERS
After an impressive opening weekend, Hustlers took a 48.8% hit, bringing in $17 million and raising its total to $62.5 million, crossing the $50 million mark with ease. That moves it up to 4th place all time for STX as the film looks to cross $100 million in short order. It will top A Bad Moms Christmas by next weekend - and it has a good chance to ultimately catch up to Bad Moms ($113.2 million) to become their number one film at the box office. Even if it falls short, a film that can triple its budget in two weeks is a winner in any sense. Between this and Downton Abbey, females have driven the box office in the last couple weekends and it just goes to show that knowing your audience can pay be dividends.
In milestone news, Good Boys took in $2.5 million (7th place), which was just enough for the film to pass the $75 million mark with a new $77.2 million total. And while Angel Has Fallen didn't hit a box office milestone, the $2.4 million it took in got it to $64.6 million - enough to top London Has Fallen ($62.2 million) and following John Wick in terms of threequels outdoing sequels.
Next week brings just one new wide release, the animated film Abominable, the first animated film in over a month.
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