Summer is slowly fading away for another year. The days are getting shorte,r and the shadows are getting longer. So there’s no need to beat about the bush; Let’s get straight to the news you want to hear first: How did the cute Barack-meets-Michelle film “Southside with You” fare this weekend? The answer is OK.
The film came in 13th place with just over $3 million, in a limited opening on 813 screens. Not bad; but I’m sure the film could have done better. It’s reportedly getting some soft word of mouth – like this weekend’s box office return, a sort of “That was a nice sweet movie, but nothing to really write home about” sort of thing. Let’s see how well the film holds at the box office next weekend.
The No. 1 film this weekend was the horror/suspense thriller “Don’t Breathe” which pulled in over $26 million – more than expected. No doubt this is good news for Sony/Screen Gems since the movie cost under $10 million to make, and though the film is set in Detroit, all the interiors, where most of the film takes place, where shot in Hungary in another cost saving move. But Sony marketed the film brilliantly, screening it at horror and fanboy/girl conventions to get early buzz going for the film.
This brings up the question: When are we going to start seeing black horror films on the level of the “Don’t Breathe” and “The Green Room” kind? True, there are some black horror films that have been made here and there over the years, but the ones I’ve seen admittedly have been pretty lame at best, and wretched at worst. Come on, I know there are some black filmmakers out there with some fantastic horror film projects that will knock our socks off. So when do we get to start seeing them?
The Jason Statham film “Mechanic: Resurrection” begs the question: who would be interested in seeing a sequel to a mediocre 2011 remake (of a far superior Charles Bronson film from the 1970’s), which did little business at the box office? The answer is, not enough people; and coming in fifth, with $7.5 million on over 2,250 screens, means that it’s not gong to be around much next weekend.
Both “Kubo and the Two Strings” and “Pete’s Dragon” are holding well with the smallest box office drops of any film in the top ten, though the same can’t be said for the “Ben-Hur” remake, which dropped like a rock in its second week, by 60%, en route to most likely becoming the biggest box office flop of the summer.
The top 13 grossing films of the weekend below:
1) Don’t Breathe SGem $26,115,000
2) Suicide Squad WB $12,110,000 Total: $282,882,627
3) Kubo and the Two Strings Focus $7,909,000 Total: $24,920,378
4) Sausage Party Sony $7,665,000 Total: $80,008,510
5) Mechanic: Resurrection LG/S $7,500,000
6) Pete’s Dragon BV $7,282,000 Total: $54,715,378
7) War Dogs WB $7,255,000 Total: $27,757,687
8) Bad Moms STX $5,760,000 Total: $95,453,235
9) Jason Bourne Uni. $5,230,000 Total: $149,357,235
10) Ben-Hur Par. $4,530,000 Total: $19,552,877
11) The Secret Life of Pets Uni. $3,760,000 Total: $353,221,005
12) Hell or High Water LGF $3,725,000 Total: $8,564,099
13) Southside with You RAtt. $3,060,064