Monday Update:

Universal’s family horror The House with a Clock in its Walls walled off the competition, with a first place debut of $26.6M at the box office.

Last weekend’s third place film, Lionsgate’s mystery comedy A Simple Favor, actually rose one rank to second place with a -36.0% decline to $10.2M.

Michael Moore’s political documentary Fahrenheit 11/9, from the studio Briarcliff, came in below even the most pessimistic pre-release expectations with a $3.0M opening and eighth place.

Same thing with Amazon’s drama Life Itself, which came in below the lower pre-release expectations by beginning outside the top 10 entirely with an 11th place debut of $2.1M.

Comparisons

Total box office this weekend was $91.7M.

That’s -15.5% below last weekend and -22.2% behind this same weekend last year, when Kingsman: The Golden Circle led with $39.0M.

Year-to-date box office stands at $8.75B. That’s +8.7% ahead of this same date last year, down from +9.2% after last weekend.

Demographics

The audience for The House with a Clock in its Walls was 54.3% female and 26.3% below age 15.

The most male audience in this weekend’s top 10 was The Predator at 64.6%, while the most female audience was Crazy Rich Asians at 59.6%.

The most under-25 audience in this weekend’s top 10 was The Nun at 45.2%, while the least under-25 audience was Peppermint at 15.0%.

A full demographic breakdown of the top 30 movies this weekend, courtesy of BoxofficeProfile by Vertigo, is included below:

Our full table of weekend actuals is below, followed by our Sunday update with fuller analysis.

Monday’s Weekend Actuals (Domestic)

FRI, SEP. 21 – SUN, SEP. 23

Sunday Update:

The House With a Clock in Its Walls spooked its way to the No. 1 spot on a relatively weak weekend at the domestic box office, bringing in an estimated $26.9 million on over 3,500 screens. Other new wide releases didn’t fare nearly as well, with Fahrenheit 11/9, Life Itself, and Assassination Nation all underperforming in the low single-digit millions.

Starring Jack Black and Cate Blanchett, The House With a Clock in Its Walls is the first PG-rated effort from director Eli Roth, who made his name on the grisly Hostel franchise over a decade ago. The leap into more kid-friendly territory paid off, as the adaptation of the 1973 John Bellairs/Edward Gorey novel scored a debut that actually improved on the opening of Black’s Goosebumps, which opened to $23.6 million back in 2015. That film powered its way to $80 million domestically, representing a solid 3.3x weekend-to-final multiplier. If House can boast the same kind of legs, the Universal/Amblin release (which comes with a reported $42 million price tag) should finish its North American run well over $80 million.

Black’s starring role in the film may have given House the extra edge that it needed this weekend. The actor’s recent track record in PG-rated fare has been stellar over the past several years, including not only Goosebumps and its forthcoming sequel but last year’s mega-hit follow-up Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which took in over $400 million in North America. Reviews for House were mixed, though the film scored just on the right side of the Tomatometer with a 67% “Fresh” rating while it netted a good “B+” Cinemascore based on audience exit surveys. One potentially negative indicator for the film’s long-term playability is its Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score, which currently stands at a not-great 48% compared with Goosebumps‘ 62% rating. It may be more reasonable to predict weekend-to-weekend declines in line with the similar Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, which opened to $28.8 million in early fall 2016 and finished its run with $87.2 million, representing a weekend-to-final multiplier of 3.02x.

Rising one spot to second place in its sophomore frame is Lionsgate’s A Simple Favor, which took in an estimated $10.4 million this weekend for a total of $32.5 million thus far. The weekend gross represents a drop of just 35% from its $16 million opening, a terrific hold that allowed it to outgross last weekend’s No. 1 film The Predator despite playing on nearly 1,000 fewer screens. Unlike that title, the Paul Feig-directed comedy-mystery has benefitted from fantastic word-of-mouth and solid critical notices, indicating it will continue to boast sturdy legs in the weeks ahead.

Finishing just a hair lower in third place was Warner Bros.’ The Nun, which posted a strong hold with an estimated $10.2 million in its third weekend of release. The Conjuring spin-off’s total now stands at a sensational $100.8 million, and by next weekend it will easily top both Annabelle: Creation ($102 million total) and The Conjuring 2 ($102.4 million) to become the second highest-grossing entry in the franchise after 2013’s The Conjuring ($137.4 million).

Last weekend’s No. 1 film The Predator slipped a full three spots in its sophomore frame, plummeting to fourth place with an estimated $8.7 million. That represents a steep 64% drop for the sci-fi action reboot, which is at least better than the second weekend performance of 2010’s Predators, which suffered a precipitous 71% drop in its second weekend. The Predator‘s total now stands at $40.4 million after ten days.

Maintaining its fifth place standing this weekend is Crazy Rich Asians, which eased just 25% to an estimated $6.5 million in its sixth weekend of release. The total for the Warner Bros. release now stands at an incredible $159.4 million.

White Boy Rick came in sixth, dropping 43% to an estimated $5 million in its sophomore frame. That gives the Sony/Studio 8 release a total of $17.4 million after ten days.

Coming in seventh place was the Jennifer Garner revenge thriller Peppermint, which scored an estimated $3.7 million in its third weekend. The STX release now has a so-so $30.3 million total to date and is performing just about in line with the Death Wish remake released earlier this year.

Underperforming in eighth place was Fahrenheit 11/9, the latest Michael Moore documentary which brought in an estimated $3.1 million in its opening weekend. That’s roughly half of what some were predicting, and a far cry from the $23.9 million debut of the filmmaker’s 2004 polemic Fahrenheit 9/11, which remains the highest-grossing documentary of all time with a final tally of $119.1 million.

Debuting on 1,719 screens, 11/9 boasted the largest print count for one of Moore’s films since Fahrenheit 9/11, which opened on 2,011 screens and boasted a sizzling per-theater average of $9,438. Unfortunately, the debut release from upstart distributor Briarcliff Entertainment (the new company formed by former Open Road CEO Tom Ortenberg) simply lacked the buzz factor that attended Moore’s biggest hit, and as a result it came in with a comparatively minuscule per-screen average of $1,804.

Finishing in ninth was Warner Bros.’ The Meg, which took in an estimated $2.3 million in its seventh weekend. That brings the shark thriller’s total to $140.5 million in North America, while its worldwide cume recently blasted past the $500 million mark.

Rounding out the Top 10 is Sony’s Searching, which brought in $2.17 million in its fourth weekend of wide release and its fifth weekend overall. The John Cho thriller now has $23.1 million to date.

Debuting outside the Top 10 was Life Itself, the second feature directorial effort from This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman. The character-driven drama underperformed with an estimated $2.10 million opening in tenth place, despite boasting Amazon Studios’ widest release to date with a screen count of 2,609. That gave the critically-brutalized film a per-screen average of just $807, which is one of the lowest ever for a film opening on over 2,500 screens. It’s worth noting that audiences liked it much better, as it has a “B+” Cinemascore and an Audience Score of 78% on Rotten Tomatoes. Nonetheless, this is a pretty dismal start for such a wide release.

Also opening outside the Top 10 was Assassination Nation, which brought in an estimated $1.02 million on 1,403 screens. That represents a per-screen average of just $733 for the Neon release, which arrived to mixed reviews and little buzz.

Limited Release:

Bleecker Street’s Colette posted a fantastic start in its limited opening weekend, bringing in an estimated $156,788 in just four theaters. That gives the acclaimed Keira Knightley drama a great per-screen average of $39,197, higher than any other film this weekend.

Annapurna’s The Sisters Brothers also posted a solid debut this weekend, bringing in an estimated $122,028 on just four screens for a per-screen average of $30,507. The Joaquin Phoenix-John C. Reilly western was boosted by strong reviews (82% on Rotten Tomatoes) and will expand wider in the coming weeks.

Overseas Update:

The Nun continued to post strong numbers overseas, bringing in $35.4 million this weekend in 80 international markets. That gives it an international total of $191.7 million and a global cume of $292.6 million. At this pace, it will easily top The Conjuring 2‘s $320.2 million total to become the highest-grossing title in the franchise worldwide.

The Predator brought in $15.3 million in its second weekend of international release, bringing its overseas cume to $54.5 million.

Continuing its rollout in international markets this weekend was the Rowan Atkinson spy comedy Johnny English Strikes Again, which brought in an estimated $17.2 million in 33 territories following its debut in Mexico and Malaysia a week prior. That gives the sequel a total of $22.1 million so far. The Universal release is set to expand to a number of territories next weekend before premiering in the U.K. on October 5.

Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates (Domestic)

FRI, SEP. 21 – SUN, SEP. 23