Game Of Box Offices: “Night School” barely passes, “Smallfoot” doesn’t climb high enough

Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish’s “Night School” clocks in at a mild $27.2 million opening weekend, still enough to put it at Number One. It’s competition, the children’s animated film “Smallfoot,” touting an estimated $80 million production budget, barely climbs past $23 million, bringing it in at Number Two. Last week’s champion, “The House With The Clock In Its Walls” falls to Number Three with $12.6 million, losing over 50% of its box office from last weekend. Paul Feig’s “A Simple Favor” stays in the Top Five, grabbing $6.5 million while Warner Bros. “The Nun” continues to climb, adding $5.4 million to its $109 million domestic cume. Newcomer “Hellfest” landed just outside the Top Five at Number Six, with $5.1 million. “The Predator” continues a steep-ish decent, getting beat by “Crazy Rich Asians” this weekend. Surprise entries “My Hero Academia: Two Heroes” and “Sui Dhaaga – Made in India” both hit the List with $1.3 million and $582,006 respectively. “Little Women” opened to Number 16 while the documentary “Free Solo” opened at Number 24, also pulling off the Per Theater Average win, with an average of $72,551 per four theaters.

Keira Knightley’s “Colette” landed on the List with a second weekend increase of +139.8%, putting it at Number 22, beating Disney’s “Christopher Robin” which was one spot away from being a BOMB this weekend. “Life Itself,” in its second weekend, was the List’s biggest percentage loser, with a decrease of -69.0%, while “Assassination Nation,” in its sophomore showing, fell completely off the List with a decrease of -80.4%. With some surprises popping up on the List, a few more films than normal fell off, with “Incredibles 2” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp” meeting their fates, however, if those surprises do not stick around next week, these films could easily bounce back. As predicted, “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” “Alpha,””Operation Finale,” and “Lizzie” all fell outside the List this weekend as well. Joining them, after a few stiff drops, was “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” in its eleventh weekend.

Next weekend, Sony’s “Venom” looks to take the crown and hang on to it for the first streak in the last month, headed towards a $65 million opening, with the remake of “A Star Is Born” looking for a $44 million opening. That $65 million should be able to fend off newcomers for the next two weeks, until the “Halloween” sequel by David Gordon Green hits theaters on October 19th. The only other film that could make an impact is likely “The Hate U Give,” but it depends how many screens it reaches. Making room for those films will likely be “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation,” which barely held on this weekend. “Free Solo” will also need a theater increase to stick around on the List. “Christopher Robin” could have met its final weekend on the List as well, after a nine spot drop. But if it somehow hangs around, one of those surprise entries of the week, “My Hero Academia: Two Heroes” or “Sui Dhaaga – Made in India” could see a complete drop off.

Box Office King: “Night School”
Box Office Queen: “Smallfoot”
Per Theater Average Winner: “Free Solo”
Per Theater Average Winner (in 25LIST): “Free Solo”
Highest Percentage Increase: “No Date, No Signature”
Highest Percentage Increase (in 25LIST): “Colette”

#	Title	Weekend	Total	Budget	Week	LW	CH
1	Night School (Uni)	$27,257,615	($27,257,615)	$29m	1st	N
2	Smallfoot (WB)	$23,045,635	($23,045,635)	$80m*	1st	N
3	The House With A Clock In Its Walls (Uni)	$12,605,120	($44,858,345)	$42m	2nd	#1
4	A Simple Favor (LGF)	$6,540,666	($43,007,474)	$20m*	3rd	#2
5	The Nun (WB)	$5,428,875	($109,011,923)	$22m	4th	#3
6	Hellfest (LGF)	$5,130,963	($5,130,963)	$5.5m	1st	N
7	Crazy Rich Asians (WB)	$4,102,788	($165,634,563)	$30m	7th	#5
8	The Predator (Fox)	$3,860,826	($47,795,077)	$88m	3rd	#4
9	White Boy Rick (Studio 8)	$2,402,240	($21,732,021)	$29m	3rd	#6
10	Peppermint (STX)	$1,766,458	($33,523,366)	$25m	4th	#7
11	My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (FUN)	$1,355,972	($3,934,746)	**	1st	N
12	Fahrenheit 11/9 (BC)	$1,111,134	($5,180,428)	$5m*	2nd	#8
13	The Meg (WB)	$1,032,182	($141,980,287)	$130m	8th	#9
14	Searching (SGem)	$955,577	($24,839,159)	**	6th	#10
15	The Wife (SPC)	$714,351	($6,041,025)	**	7th	#16
16	Little Women (Pin)	$705,063	($705,063)	**	1st	N
17	Life Itself (Amazon)	$658,799	($3,641,320)	**	2nd	#11
18	Mission: Impossible – Fallout (Par)	$621,619	($219,190,552)	$178m	10th	#13
19	Sui Dhaaga – Made in India (Yash)	$582,006	($582,006)	$4m*	1st	N
20	Unbroken: Path To Redemption (PFR)	$487,470	($5,595,589)	$6m*	3rd	#12
21	BlacKkKlansman (Focus)	$447,340	($47,831,520)	$15m	8th	#17
22	Colette (BST)	$386,540	($606,970)	**	2nd	#27
23	Christopher Robin (BV)	$340,471	($97,541,968)	$75m*	9th	#14
24	Free Solo (NGE)	$290,205	($290,205)	**	1st	N
25	Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (Sony)	$278,782	($166,443,403)	$80m	12th	#18

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

OFF THE CHARTS THIS WEEK

(OFFICIALLY CLOSED)