Saturday Update: Universal reports that Night School posted an opening day of $9.5 million on Friday. That’s in line with the $9.5 million first day of Boo! A Madea Halloween two autumns ago, while registering 26 percent below the $12.9 million opening day of Get Hard back in March 2015. The Hart/Haddish comedy is performing closer to the lower end of expectations at the moment as the studio projects a weekend around $26.4 million.
Smallfoot posted $6.5 million for its first day in release, 12 and 13 percent ahead of The LEGO Ninjago Movie ($5.8 million) and Storks ($5.7 million), respectively. Initial weekend projections stand around $23 million, generally in line with pre-release tracking.
The House With A Clock In Its Walls slid 60 percent from opening day last week due to direct competition from the new WB animation opener, claiming $6.5 million yesterday. With $35.3 million earned through eight days, the film still has room to stabilize as it enters the kid-friendly Halloween corridor of October. Boxoffice projects a $12.5 million sophomore frame.
Rounding out the openers this weekend, Hell Fest pulled $2.0 million on Friday. The studio projects a $4.8 million weekend, while Boxoffice is slightly more bullish at $5.0 million. Meanwhile, Pinnacle Peak’s Little Women remake took in $350,000 from 643 locations on opening day as it eyes a weekend around $1 million+.
This weekend’s early estimates are below. Updated studio estimates to follow on Sunday.
Early Weekend Estimates (Domestic)
FRI, SEP. 28 – SUN, SEP. 30
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Night School (2017) | $26,000,000 | — | 3,010 | — | $8,638 | $26,000,000 | 69 | Oscilloscope Laboratories |
| 2 | Smallfoot | $23,000,000 | — | 4,131 | — | $5,568 | $23,000,000 | 1 | Warner Bros. |
| 3 | The House With A Clock In Its Walls | $12,500,000 | -53% | 3,592 | 0 | $3,480 | $44,753,225 | 2 | Universal Pictures |
| 4 | A Simple Favor | $6,800,000 | -34% | 3,073 | -29 | $2,213 | $43,266,808 | 3 | Lionsgate |
| 5 | The Nun | $5,400,000 | -46% | 3,331 | -376 | $1,621 | $108,983,048 | 4 | Warner Bros. |
| 6 | Hell Fest | $5,000,000 | — | 2,297 | — | $2,177 | $5,000,000 | 1 | Lionsgate / CBS Films |
| 7 | Crazy Rich Asians | $4,200,000 | -34% | 2,347 | -455 | $1,790 | $165,731,775 | 7 | Warner Bros. |
| 8 | The Predator | $3,600,000 | -61% | 2,926 | -1144 | $1,230 | $47,534,251 | 3 | Fox |
| 9 | White Boy Rick | $2,600,000 | -46% | 2,017 | -487 | $1,289 | $21,929,781 | 3 | Sony / Studio 8 |
| 10 | Peppermint | $1,800,000 | -51% | 2,002 | -678 | $899 | $33,556,908 | 4 | STX Entertainment |
| 11 | The Meg | $1,000,000 | -56% | 1,243 | -760 | $805 | $141,948,105 | 8 | Warner Bros. |
| 12 | Searching | $940,000 | -56% | 1,014 | -773 | $927 | $24,823,582 | 6 | Sony Pictures |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Little Women (2018) | $1,100,000 | — | 643 | — | $1,711 | $1,100,000 | 1 | Pinnacle Peak |
| 2 | Mission: Impossible – Fallout | $610,000 | -48% | 538 | -333 | $1,134 | $219,178,933 | 10 | Paramount |
| 3 | Unbroken: Path to Redemption | $475,000 | -63% | 741 | -743 | $641 | $5,583,119 | 3 | Pure Flix |
| 4 | BlacKkKlansman | $440,000 | -32% | 436 | -18 | $1,009 | $47,824,180 | 8 | Focus Features |
| 5 | Disney’s Christopher Robin | $400,000 | -63% | 670 | -582 | $597 | $97,601,497 | 9 | Disney |
| 6 | Incredibles 2 | $300,000 | -44% | 338 | -162 | $888 | $606,791,582 | 16 | Disney |
| 7 | Ant-Man and the Wasp | $260,000 | -4% | 258 | -2 | $1,008 | $216,150,872 | 13 | Disney |
| 8 | God Bless the Broken Road | $38,000 | -57% | 111 | -113 | $342 | $2,785,714 | 4 | Freestyle Releasing |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Old Man & The Gun | $150,000 | — | 5 | — | $30,000 | $150,000 | 1 | Fox Searchlight |
| 2 | Ya Veremos | $55,000 | -59% | 58 | -56 | $948 | $4,117,563 | 5 | Lionsgate / Pantelion Films |
| 3 | The Riot Act | $5,500 | -48% | 5 | -5 | $1,100 | $5,500 | 3 | Hannover House |
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Friday Update: Universal’s Night School reported in with a $1.35 million start last night, a very encouraging start to the weekend for the Kevin Hart/Tiffany Haddish-led comedy. Shows began at 7pm in an estimated 2,500 locations. Last night’s earnings compare like this:
- 78 percent ahead of Boo 2! A Madea Halloween ($760K)
- 21 percent behind Girls Trip ($1.7 million)
- 25 percent behind Get Hard ($1.8 million)
Also displaying a healthy start, Warner Bros.’ Smallfoot took in $850K from 3,100+ locations yesterday. Shows began at 4pm, getting a leg up on weekend business that will skew Friday/weekend projections for now, but the animated pic came in 93 percent ahead of Storks‘ $440K Thursday start two Septembers ago.
Meanwhile, Hell Fest scored an estimated $435K last night, coming in 29 percent behind Winchester ($615K) and 40 percent ahead of The Belko Experiment ($310K).
More updates to follow throughout the weekend.
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