Monday Update: Lionsgate’s action sequel Angel Has Fallen did anything but fall, exceeding even the most optimistic pre-release projections with a $21.3M opening.

That’s -1.1% off from the $21.6M opening of previous installment London Has Fallen. 

Last weekend’s leader, Universal’s R-rated comedy Good Boys, took second place. Declining -45.6%, it earned $11.6M.

Sony’s faith-based drama Overcomer slightly beat most expectations with a third place start of $8.1M.

Fox Searchlight’s horror film Ready or Not began in sixth place with $8.0M, a little above most projections.

Comparisons

Total box office this weekend was $94.8M.

That’s -9.9% below last weekend but +4.4% above this same weekend last year, when Crazy Rich Asians led for a second frame with $24.8M.

Year-to-date box office stands at $7.64B. That’s -6.4% behind this same date last year, even from -6.4% after last weekend.

Monday’s Weekend Actuals (Domestic)

FRI, AUG. 23 – SUN, AUG. 25

Monday Update: Hollywood continued flooding theaters with new releases in the final weekend before Labor Day, pushing out the action threequel Angel Has Fallen, the R-rated horror film Ready Or Not and the faith-based drama Overcomer. Among those titles, Angel was the one to snag the No. 1 spot with an estimated $21.2 million debut from 3,286 screens, demonstrating the continued strength of the Gerard Butler franchise.

Angel Has Fallen was actually the second Lionsgate R-rated action threequel to capture the top spot at the box office this year following John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, which launched to $56.8 million back in May. Though obviously not in the same league, Angel Has Fallen managed to outperform most projections, which had it finishing in the mid-teen range heading into the weekend.

With this weekend’s gross, Angel Has Fallen came in roughly even with 2016’s London Has Fallen ($21.6 million), though the first film in the franchise—2013’s Olympus Has Fallen—remains the highest opener of the bunch, having scored $30.3 million in its debut. Reviews were poor–the film scored just 39% on Rotten Tomatoes–but that’s par for the course for a franchise that’s always been more of an audience than a critical favorite. Like its predecessors, Angel Has Fallen came in with a solid “A-“ Cinemascore, while its RT Audience Score currently stands at an excellent 95%.

Second place went to last week’s No. 1 Good Boys, which dipped 45% to an estimated $11.7 million in its sophomore frame. That’s a solid hold for the Universal comedy, which now has a healthy $49 million after 10 days of release.

Debuting in third place with a strong opening was the Christian sports drama Overcomer, which brought in an estimated $8.2 million from 1,723 screens. The Sony/AFFIRM release benefitted greatly from the name value of writer-directors The Kendrick Brothers, who previously minted faith-based hits with films like 2006’s Facing the Giants ($10.1 million in North America off a $100,000 budget), 2008’s Fireproof ($33.4 million), 2011’s Courageous ($34.5 million) and 2015’s War Room, which opened with $11.5 million and went on to gross $67.7 million domestically. Though reviews for the film were mostly negative (38% on Rotten Tomatoes), it clearly won out with its target audience, with opening-day viewers awarding it an “A+” Cinemascore and RT users giving it a near-perfect 99% Audience Score.

After crossing the $500 million domestic mark last week, The Lion King came in fourth with an estimated $8.15 million, bringing the Disney blockbuster to $510.6 million through the end of its sixth weekend. That puts it over the $504 million brought in by the live-action Beauty & the Beast in 2017, making it the top-grossing Disney live-action/CG reimagining to date.

In fifth, Hobbs & Shaw brought in an estimated $8.1 million, bringing the total for the Fast & Furious spinoff to $147.7 million through the end of its fourth weekend. That number puts the Universal release in fifth place all-time among films in the franchise, having surpassed the $144.5 million gross of the first installment not adjusting for inflation.

The weekend’s final new wide release Ready Or Not finished in sixth place with a decent $7.6 million debut Friday through Sunday on 2,855 screens, giving the horror-thriller a total of $10.6 million since opening Tuesday night. Some projections had the Fox Searchlight title released by Disney finishing in the low teens for the three-day period, so it came in slightly below expectations despite good reviews (87% on Rotten Tomatoes) and a good-for-the-genre “B+” Cinemascore. The opening is actually closely aligned with the similar horror film You’re Next, which opened to $7 million in 2013 on its way to a final domestic total of $18.4 million.

Following a disappointing $10.3 million debut last weekend, The Angry Birds Movie 2 eased 38% to an estimated $6.3 million in seventh place, giving the Sony animated sequel a disappointing $27 million after 10 days of release. The followup is currently pacing roughly 59% behind the first Angry Birds, which had grossed $66.4 million by the same point in its run back in 2016.

In eighth, Lionsgate and CBS Film’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark grossed an estimated $6 million, putting the tween-oriented horror flick at $50.4 million through the end of its third weekend.

Ninth place went to Paramount’s Dora and the Lost City of Gold, which took in an estimated $5.2 million in its third weekend. The family adventure film now has $43.1 million in North America.

Rounding out the Top 10 was Sony’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which brought in an estimated $5 million in its fifth weekend of release. That brings the total for the Quentin Tarantino title to a very good $123.1 million.

Finishing outside the Top 10 was Roadside’s The Peanut Butter Falcon, which expanded to 991 screens after two weekends of limited release with an estimated $3 million, giving it a per-screen average of roughly $3K. The comedy-drama starring Shia LaBeouf and Dakota Johnson has grossed $3.7 million to date.

Limited Release:

Amazon Studios’ Brittany Runs a Marathon grossed $175K from five screens, giving the well-reviewed comedy a good per-theater average of $35K. 

Overseas Update:

Hobbs & Shaw enjoyed an impressive opening in China this weekend with an estimated $101.7 million in the country, lifting its overall international weekend total to $120.4 million. Its Chinese opening ranks as the third-biggest in the Fast & Furious franchise to date after Fate of the Furious ($192.1 million) and Furious 7 ($182.4 million), the largest August opening ever in the country, the second-largest opening for a Hollywood movie there this year after Avengers: Endgame, and the third-largest opening in 2019 overall behind Endgame and the Chinese title Wandering Earth. The international cume for the Dwayne Johnson-Jason Statham actioner is now $441.2 million and the global total is $588.9 million.

The Lion King crossed the $1.5 billion mark at the global box office this weekend with another estimated $30 million overseas, bringing its international cume to $997.9 million and its worldwide tally to $1.5085 billion. This weekend’s overseas tally included a strong $15.9 million opening in Italy, making it the second-highest debut by a Disney film in the country after Avengers: Endgame. Country totals include $120.4 million in China, $84.8 million in the U.K. and $71.3 million in France.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood grossed an estimated $28M in 55 markets, bringing its international total to $116.6 million and its global tally to $239.8 million. Country totals for the Sony release include $15.7 million in Russia, $14.8 million in the U.K. and $12.3 million in France.

Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates (Domestic)

FRI, AUG. 23 – SUN, AUG. 25