Game Of Box Offices: Three weeks later, Crazy Rich Asians and Warner Bros can’t be stopped (August 31st, 2018)

For the third weekend in a row, and as expected, “Crazy Rich Asians” dominated the box office and held on to the crown. Facing zero new competition over the Labor Day weekend was its biggest reason for keeping the throne. It dropped only -11.5%, hanging on to a $21.9 million weekend. Warner Bros. Pictures continued to hold the top two spots for third weekend in a row as well, with “The Meg” staying at Number Two with $10.5 million in its third weekend. The newcomers couldn’t even tough the third position, which was reclaimed by “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” in its sixth weekend, grabbing another $7 million and moving up a spot on the Top 25. Last week’s thriller release “Searching” saw a huge uptick, winning the Highest Percentage Increase (HPI) of the weekend with an increase of +1,460.4%, beating the next closest increase by double, gaining $6 million in its second weekend. Finally, a new release lands within the Top Five, with the Oscar Isaac-Ben Kingsley Nazi movie “Operation Finale,” which earned $6 million after opening on Wednesday. Other newcomers on the list this week included “Kin,” which earned $3 million and a spot at Number 12, foreign-language film “Ya Veremos,” which earned $1.8 million and a spot at Number 15, and “The Little Stranger,” which earned $401,563 and spot at Number 23.

Taking quite the fall within the Top Ten, “The Happytime Murders,” which opened last week, fell from Number Three to Number Eight, being passed by the likes of Disney’s “Christopher Robin” and “Alpha.” Bombing this weekend was fellow sophomore release “A.X.L.” which took a nasty TEN POINT DROP, falling Number Nine to Number 19. Off the list, newcomer “Pick of the Litter,” a documentary about the teaching of seeing eye dogs, earned the highest Per Theater Average with an average $9,539 in only two theaters. “The Wife,” starring Glenn Close, saw an uptick in its second weekend, and because the Per Theater Average winner within the 25LIST, earning an average of $6,688 in 78 theaters. Last week’s surprise inclusion on the 25LIST, “Beautifully Broken,” took the biggest spill of any of the movies from last week, dropping off the list with a decrease of -70.6% and a drop of 13 spots. Small titles “Eighth Grade,” which had a huge run, and “Puzzle,” which was a breakout as well, both saw the end of their runs on the 25LIST. “Teen Titans Go! To The Movies” may have reclaimed its $10 million production budget, but it ends its stay on the LIST in only its sixth week. “Three Identical Strangers” officially ends the highlight documentary run, featuring “RBG” and “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” after ten weeks on the list. Also note that “Incredibles 2” got re-released in 1,830 more theaters and saw an uptick of +105.3% and four spots on the 25LIST while “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” also added theaters (+948) and saw an uptick of +106.6% and two spots on the 25LIST.

Come next week, “Crazy Rich Asians” will finally be forced off the throne as “The Nun” aims to scare up $39 million. Please note, however, that “The Nun” is also Warner Bros. so expect WB to continue their royal reign in the top two spots as “Crazy Rich Asians” will likely battle it out with newcomer “Pepperment,” starring Jennifer Garner, which is aiming for a weekend of $13 million. Finishing outside the Top Ten, but still likely to bump off a film from the 25LIST is “God Bless the Broken Road,” which is hoping for an opening around $2.5 million. “The Spy Who Dumped Me” was left barely hanging on this weekend and with three sizable releases next weekend, it will likely finally take the bump. “Papillon” has been doing less than desirable and so that too could see itself falling off in its third week. And with the bomb this weekend, I would not even bat an eyelash at the thought of “A.X.L.” completely falling off the list in its third weekend as well.

Box Office King: “Crazy Rich Asians”
Box Office Queen: “The Meg”
Per Theater Average Winner (in 25LIST): “The Wife”
Highest Percentage Increase: “Searching”

#	Title	Weekend	Total	Budget	Week	LW	CH
1	Crazy Rich Asians (WB)	$21,964,345	($110,691,733)	$30m	3rd	#1
2	The Meg (WB)	$10,535,459	($120,521,875)	$130m	4th	#2
3	Mission: Impossible – Fallout (Par)	$7,032,499	($204,379,028)	$178m	6th	#4
4	Searching (SGem)	$6,066,463	($6,574,943)	**	2nd	#22
5	Operation Finale (MGM)	$6,022,758	($7,749,853)	$24m	1st	N
6	Christopher Robin (BV)	$5,277,955	($85,686,823)	$75m*	5th	#6
7	Alpha (Studio 8)	$4,548,627	($27,470,847)	$51m	3rd	#7
8	The Happytime Murders (STX)	$4,382,781	($16,998,475)	$40m	2nd	#3
9	BlacKkKlansman (Focus)	$4,202,080	($38,394,905)	$15m	4th	#8
10	Mile 22 (STX)	$3,765,869	($31,952,203)	$50m	3rd	#5
11	Incredibles 2 (BV)	$3,372,388	($601,233,301)	$200m*	12th	#15
12	Kin (LGF)	$3,035,618	($3,035,618)	**	1st	N
13	Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (Sony)	$2,121,431	($162,022,437)	$80m	8th	#11
14	Slender Man (SGem)	$1,816,414	($28,176,223)	$10m	4th	#10
15	Ya Veremos (PNT)	$1,803,848	($1,803,848)	**	1st	N
16	Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (Uni)	$1,531,890	($414,817,030)	$170m	11th	#18
17	The Equalizer 2 (Sony)	$1,459,816	($100,361,178)	$62m	7th	#12
18	Ant-Man and the Wasp (BV)	$1,401,414	($213,561,872)	$162m*	9th	#14
19	A.X.L. (GR)	$1,356,690	($5,141,625)	$10m*	2nd	#9
20	Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (Uni)	$1,253,505	($117,701,625)	$75m	7th	#13
21	Juliet, Naked (RAtt)	$821,021	($1,269,960)	**	3rd	#25
22	The Wife (SPC)	$521,700	($1,011,531)	**	3rd	#27
23	The Little Stranger (Focus)	$401,563	($401,563)	**	1st	N
24	Papillon (2018) (BST)	$372,556	($1,957,611)	**	2nd	#16
25	The Spy Who Dumped Me (LGF)	$370,887	($33,061,615)	$40m	5th	#17

***ALL DOMESTIC NUMBERS FROM BOX OFFICE MOJO***

OFF THE CHARTS THIS WEEK

(OFFICIALLY CLOSED)