In an incredibly weak weekend, Deadpool & Wolverine seized the opportunity to return to the top spot on its fifth weekend. There were three newcomers and there were mixed results; Blink Twice became another Channing Tatum blunder, The Forge performed well, while The Crow unsurprisingly became a feast for crows.
The Top 10 earned a combined $82.5 million this weekend. That's up 5.8% from last year, when Gran Turismo cheated its way to #1.
In seventh place, Fathom Events' Coraline dipped 49% and added $5 million this weekend. That takes its lifetime total to $106.9 million. In some big news, it officially passed Chicken Run to become the highest grossing stop-motion animated film domestically.
It's not until the eighth spot where we find Lionsgate's The Crow, which flopped with just $4.6 million in 2,752 theaters. For reference, the original Crow debuted with $11.7 million back in 1994, and that's just unadjusted. In fact, the reboot's opening weekend is less than the original's third weekend.
This was one of the easiest flops to predict this summer. There's so many reasons why the film was left to the crows, but there's a big one here: it simply didn't look good. In fact, every single image and trailer of the film looked awful. When you compare it to the original film, it's even worse. The lead character's make-up and design looked incredibly reminiscent of Jared Leto's Joker, which is the worst compliment you can give.
The original Crow attained a cult following, particularly as the film was Brandon Lee's final film due to his tragic death during filming. In the eyes of the public, Brandon Lee is The Crow, making it very difficult for any other actor to take the mantle. Which is why the reboot was stuck in development hell for decades and saw the involvement and subsequent exit of stars like Mark Wahlberg, Bradley Cooper, Channing Tatum, Ryan Gosling, James McAvoy, Tom Hiddleston, Alexander Skarsgård, Luke Evans, Norman Reedus, Jack Huston, Nicholas Hoult, Jack O'Connell, and Jason Momoa.
Now, the public is not aware of production problems, they simply want to watch a film. But the amount of delays suggest there's problems with finding the right script. It didn't fully gain traction till a few years ago, when Bill Skarsgård finally signed. And as proven with Boy Kills World, he is not a big name at the box office. And when you have Rupert Sanders as director, you're set for failure in the reception; it's currently sitting at a poor 19% on Rotten Tomatoes. Combine it with a reboot that no one was really interested, and you've got a flop.
According to Lionsgate, 58% of the audience was male and 58% was in the 18-34 demographic. The audience gave it a poor "B–" on CinemaScore, suggesting very lukewarm word of mouth. With putrid reception, the film is destined to fall quickly. There's a strong chance the film's lifetime gross will be less than the original's opening weekend. Lionsgate won't be hugely affected; they paid $10 million for the film and only spent $15 million on marketing. But they will still lose money on the film.
OVERSEAS
FILMS THAT ENDED THEIR RUN THIS WEEK
| Movie | Release Date | Studio | Domestic Opening | Domestic Total | Worldwide Total | Budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes | May/10 | 20th Century Studios | $58,400,788 | $171,130,165 | $397,378,150 | $160M |
- Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes has closed with almost $400 million worldwide. It's hard to call this a hit, given that it didn't cover its marketing expenses. But considering how it had to build interest for new characters and a new storyline, perhaps it's solid enough for Disney and 20th Century Studios to go forward with their trilogy.
THIS WEEKEND
It's Labor Day, which is notoriously a very slow moviegoing weekend. And without National Cinema Day, it's likely audiences opt to just save their money till Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
There's only one film expected to hit wide release, and that's Sony/Blumhouse's Afraid, which follows a smart home AI increasingly interjecting itself into a family's life. Buzz is not quite strong with this film, and while it should be profitable due to Blumhouse's low budget, it'd be a surprise if it truly broke out.
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