Saturday Update: Happy Death Day is performing slightly ahead of expectations this weekend as it bowed to a strong $11.6 million opening day Friday (including Thursday shows). This marks yet another great success for Universal and Blumhouse’s micro-budget horror strategy, following in the footsteps of this year’s previous Split and Get Out — not to mention many others in past years. By comparison, HDD opened 114 percent ahead of The Bye Bye Man‘s Friday take (which also debuted on Friday the 13th in January this year). Some natural frontloading is expected given the strong teen appeal of the film (combined the “holiday” for horror fans). The studio projects a $26.3 million weekend, but we’re a bit more conservative for the reasons mentioned with a $25 million projection.
The Foreigner also came in ahead of expectations with $4.75 million yesterday, a successful return for Jackie Chan in a film that has already earned $88 million overseas thus far. Opening day came in just 13 percent behind John Wick‘s $5.45 million three Octobers ago. The studio projects a $13.03 million weekend, but if the film plays out similar to John Wick and American Assassin (factoring in Thursday performances), it would land closer to a (still healthy) $12.3 million.
In third place, Blade Runner 2049 slipped 66 percent from opening day last week to $4.315 million, giving it $49.8 million domestically in eight days. We’re expecting a sophomore weekend around $13.6 million based on Friday’s performance.
Also benefiting from Friday the 13th, IT added $1.6 million yesterday to boost its domestic haul up to $310.84 million. A weekend around $6 million remains expected.
Meanwhile, Marshall debuted to $1.036 million in 821 locations, aiming for a weekend around $2.7 million; Professor Marston and the Wonder Woman debuted to $248,000 in 1,229 locations yesterday, aiming for a $775,000 weekend or more; and Goodbye Christopher Robin earned $17,653 from 9 locations on opening day with a weekend looking to land around $58,000.
Early weekend estimates are below with updated studio estimates to follow on Sunday.
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Happy Death Day | $25,000,000 | — | 3,149 | — | $7,939 | $25,000,000 | 1 | Universal / Blumhouse |
| 2 | Blade Runner 2049 | $13,600,000 | -58% | 4,058 | 0 | $3,351 | $59,078,387 | 2 | Warner Bros. |
| 3 | The Foreigner | $12,300,000 | — | 2,515 | — | $4,891 | $12,300,000 | 1 | STX Entertainment |
| 4 | It (2017) | $6,000,000 | -40% | 3,176 | -429 | $1,889 | $314,879,521 | 6 | Warner Bros. / New Line |
| 5 | American Made | $5,500,000 | -35% | 3,098 | 67 | $1,775 | $40,229,865 | 3 | Universal |
| 6 | The Mountain Between Us | $5,450,000 | -48% | 3,259 | 171 | $1,672 | $20,302,922 | 2 | 20th Century Fox |
| 7 | Kingsman: The Golden Circle | $5,100,000 | -41% | 2,982 | -506 | $1,710 | $89,437,040 | 4 | Fox |
| 8 | The LEGO Ninjago Movie | $4,400,000 | -37% | 3,053 | -558 | $1,441 | $51,662,689 | 4 | Warner Bros. |
| 9 | My Little Pony: The Movie | $3,800,000 | -57% | 2,528 | 0 | $1,503 | $15,313,434 | 2 | Lionsgate |
| 10 | Battle of the Sexes | $1,325,000 | -48% | 1,394 | -428 | $951 | $10,339,198 | 4 | Fox Searchlight |
| 11 | Flatliners | $1,300,000 | -67% | 1,983 | -569 | $656 | $15,427,971 | 3 | Sony Pictures |
| 12 | Professor Marston & The Wonder Women | $775,000 | — | 1,229 | — | $631 | $775,000 | 1 | Annapurna Pictures |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Victoria & Abdul | $3,200,000 | -23% | 900 | 168 | $3,556 | $11,426,944 | 4 | Focus Features |
| 2 | Marshall | $2,700,000 | — | 821 | — | $3,289 | $2,700,000 | 1 | Open Road |
| 3 | American Assassin | $540,000 | -61% | 820 | -836 | $659 | $35,622,509 | 5 | CBS Films / Lionsgate |
| 4 | ‘Til Death Do Us Part | $250,000 | -67% | 400 | -150 | $625 | $3,189,786 | 3 | Novus Content |
| 5 | Home Again | $170,000 | -70% | 361 | -642 | $471 | $26,804,026 | 6 | Open Road |
| 6 | mother! | $130,000 | -66% | 159 | -322 | $818 | $17,636,404 | 5 | Paramount |
| 7 | Judwaa 2 | $105,000 | -66% | 106 | -86 | $991 | $1,407,701 | 3 | FIP |
| 8 | Cars 3 | $100,000 | -10% | 119 | -12 | $840 | $152,755,524 | 18 | Disney |
| 9 | The Hitman’s Bodyguard | $85,000 | -50% | 165 | -149 | $515 | $75,188,885 | 9 | Lionsgate / Summit |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Goodbye Christopher Robin | $58,000 | — | 9 | — | $6,444 | $58,000 | 1 | Fox Searchlight |
| 2 | The Big Sick | $30,000 | 43% | 64 | 30 | $469 | $42,864,911 | 17 | Lionsgate |
| 3 | Friend Request | $6,500 | -91% | 50 | -104 | $130 | $3,730,176 | 4 | Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures |
| 4 | 47 Meters Down | $130 | -95% | 1 | -6 | $130 | $44,306,874 | 18 | Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures |
===
Friday Report: Happy Death Day bowed to $1 million on Thursday night, more than double the take of The Bye Bye Man ($400,000) — the most recent horror flick to open over a “Friday the 13th” weekend. Last night’s take also bested the $720,000 of last October’s Ouija: Origin of Evil and the first Ouija‘s $910,000.
Meanwhile, The Foreigner opened to $775,000 last night, not far shy of John Wick‘s $870,000 October launch three years ago and American Assassin‘s $920,000 launch back in September.
Official Friday estimates and weekend projections will be published here Saturday morning.
Share this post