Saturday Update: STX reports Hustlers was the #1 film at the domestic box office on Friday with an estimated $13.1 million opening day, including Thursday night’s previously reported $2.5 million start.
Produced for a relatively modest $20 million, this lifts the strongly reviewed ensemble pic into breakout territory as it well out-paced the starts of movies like Night School ($9.5 million opening day), Girls Trip ($11.7 million), The Girl on the Train ($9.3 million), and Bad Moms ($9.5 million).
This also marks the biggest opening day gross by any film in STX’s distribution history, besting the latter of those aforementioned comps. Based on current projections, Hustlers should net the studio its best weekend debut in their young history with around $32 million — besting Bad Moms‘ $23.8 million just over three years ago.
Sliding down to second place for the day was Warner Bros.’ It: Chapter Two with $12.8 million to start its sophomore frame, lifting the eight-day domestic haul to $125.9 million. Yesterday marked a 65 percent decline from opening day last week, generally comparable to the 62 percent Friday-to-Friday drop of its predecessor two years ago. Boxoffice projects around a $40 million weekend in first place.
Meanwhile, The Goldfinch is struggling to take flight as it posted $870,000 on opening day. That’s well below the starts of similar adult-driven dramas by major studios like White Boy Rick ($3.5 million), The Mountain Between Us ($3.5 million), and The Glass Castle ($1.7 million), and more in line with the debut of last year’s Life Itself ($747,000). Opening weekend projections stand around $2.6 million.
Early weekend estimates are below. Updated studio estimates to follow on Sunday.
Early Weekend Estimates (Domestic)
FRI, SEP. 13 – SUN, SEP. 15
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | It Chapter Two | $40,000,000 | -56% | 4,570 | 0 | $8,753 | $153,068,524 | 2 | Warner Bros |
| 2 | Hustlers | $32,000,000 | — | 3,250 | — | $9,846 | $32,000,000 | 1 | Annapurna |
| 3 | Angel Has Fallen | $4,200,000 | -30% | 3,076 | -153 | $1,365 | $60,180,418 | 4 | Lionsgate |
| 4 | Good Boys | $4,100,000 | -25% | 2,736 | -457 | $1,499 | $73,156,735 | 5 | Universal Pictures |
| 5 | The Lion King | $3,700,000 | -14% | 2,365 | -245 | $1,564 | $534,137,775 | 9 | Walt Disney Pictures |
| 6 | Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw | $2,800,000 | -26% | 2,050 | -249 | $1,366 | $168,347,320 | 7 | Universal Pictures |
| 7 | Overcomer | $2,700,000 | -27% | 2,293 | 140 | $1,177 | $28,952,768 | 4 | Sony Pictures |
| 8 | The Goldfinch | $2,600,000 | — | 2,542 | — | $1,023 | $2,600,000 | 1 | Warner Bros. |
| 9 | The Peanut Butter Falcon | $1,900,000 | -11% | 1,490 | 180 | $1,275 | $14,876,137 | 6 | Roadside Attractions |
| 10 | Dora and the Lost City of Gold | $1,900,000 | -19% | 1,348 | -440 | $1,409 | $56,793,567 | 6 | Paramount Pictures |
| 11 | Scary Stories to Tell In The Dark | $1,700,000 | -26% | 1,494 | -607 | $1,138 | $64,439,086 | 6 | CBS Films / Lionsgate |
| 12 | The Angry Birds Movie 2 | $1,300,000 | -24% | 1,184 | -670 | $1,098 | $39,740,502 | 5 | Sony Pictures |
| 13 | Ready or Not | $1,000,000 | -57% | 1,095 | -1255 | $913 | $27,744,177 | 4 | Fox Searchlight |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brittany Runs A Marathon | $1,600,000 | 66% | 757 | 527 | $2,114 | $1,600,000 | 4 | Amazon Studios |
| 2 | Once Upon a Time In Hollywood | $1,500,000 | -31% | 957 | -445 | $1,567 | $136,871,627 | 8 | Sony Pictures |
| 3 | Spider-Man: Far from Home | $670,000 | -46% | 710 | -723 | $944 | $389,204,554 | 11 | Sony / Columbia |
| 4 | Chhichhore | $500,000 | -19% | 195 | 0 | $2,564 | $1,398,575 | 2 | FIP |
| 5 | Toy Story 4 | $500,000 | -9% | 410 | -230 | $1,220 | $432,456,259 | 13 | Disney |
| 6 | 47 Meters Down: Uncaged | $490,000 | -34% | 537 | -438 | $912 | $21,601,971 | 5 | Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures |
| 7 | The Art of Racing in the Rain | $330,000 | -35% | 473 | -267 | $698 | $25,831,224 | 6 | 20th Century Fox |
| 8 | Aladdin | $240,000 | -8% | 179 | -19 | $1,341 | $355,113,567 | 17 | Disney |
| 9 | Tod@s Caen | $200,000 | -58% | 211 | -160 | $948 | $2,438,503 | 3 | Lionsgate / Pantelion |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Out Of Liberty | $95,000 | — | 35 | — | $2,714 | $95,000 | 1 | Purdie Distribution |
| 2 | Mission Mangal | $55,000 | -51% | 43 | -51 | $1,279 | $3,657,774 | 5 | FIP |
Friday Report: STX’s Hustlers kicked off opening weekend with an estimated $2.5 million from Thursday night’s first shows, setting the stage for what has increasingly looked to become a breakout opening weekend.
By comparison, Night School earned $1.35 million in late September last year on its way to $27.3 million in its first frame. Hustlers also handily topped the $1.23 million start by The Girl on the Train three autumns ago, which went on to $24.5 million in its first three days.
Other notable comps include Ocean’s 8 ($4.0 million), Girls Trip ($1.7 million), and Bad Moms ($2.0 million) — but all three of those opened during summer, skewing relative projections from Thursday business.
Warner Bros. did not hold Thursday night previews for The Goldfinch.
More updates to follow as provided.
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