As expected, ‘It: Chapter Two’ retained the top spot at the box office for a second week. Earning $40.7 million, it pushed the ‘It’ franchise past the $1 billion mark globally. It remains the #1 movie worldwide and debuted at #1 in every country where it opened, although in its second weekend, it stepped down to #2 in the UK and Australia, where ‘Downton Abbey’ opened.
In the US, ‘Hustlers’ opened at #2 with $33.2M, vastly over-performing projections. It’s possible business was fuelled by Oscar buzz regarding star Jennifer Lopez’s performance. This marks the highest opening of Lopez’s acting career and topped the first weekend of her co-star Constance Wu’s ‘Crazy Rich Asians’, which was a surprise hit last year. It also helps that all of this picture’s stars which also include Cardi B., Lizzo, and ‘Riverdale’s Lili Reinhart are very active on social media and helped market it. Audiences gave ‘Hustlers’ a B- CinemaScore and 3.5 stars via PostTrak.
Otherwise, it’s still a bit of a dead zone at the box office. The rest of the Top Five were in the low single digits. Warner Brothers was hoping that ‘The Goldfinch’, based on Donna Tartt’s bestselling novel, would be an awards contender, but after it failed to impress at the Toronto International Film Festival, the film was DOA in theaters. Its Rotten Tomatoes score is a dismal 25%. Audiences were kinder, giving it a B CinemaScore. Speaking of audiences, the majority of folks that turned out to see this film were over 50.
TOP FIVE
- It: Chapter Two (New Line/Warner Brothers) – $40.7M
- Hustlers (STX Entertainment) – $33.2M
- Angel Has Fallen (Millennium/Lionsgate) – $4.4M
- Good Boys (Universal) – $4.2M
- The Lion King (Disney) – $3.6M
‘Downton Abbey’ arrives in US theaters next weekend, along with the Brad Pitt sci-fi film ‘Ad Astra’. Also set to hit theaters are ‘Rambo: Last Blood’ and Rob Zombie’s ‘3 From Hell’.
Source: Deadline
