After three straight weeks of dominating atop the box office, Suicide Squad has finally been dethroned. Nevertheless, it only dropped to #2 with a weekend gross of just over #12 million. New box office champion, Don’t Breathe, scored twice that amount during its debut weekend. The horror/thriller raked in slightly over $26 million. Not only did this far exceed studio expectation, it’s already made back its measly production budget of $10 million. Centered on a burglary gone wrong, Don’t Breathe can breathe a sigh of relief thanks to its success thus far.
In the midst of a very underwhelming summer movie season, the horror genre has done surprisingly well. Despite many blockbusters and superhero films failing to reach financial expectations, fright fests such as Don’t Breathe have been unmitigated hits. Earlier this summer, The Conjuring 2 scored big and The Purge: Election Year brought in enough revenue to finance a few additional sequels. Don’t Breathe, while not a sequel like its horror cousins, had strong word of mouth and glowing reviews. As we enter the fall season, Don’t Breathe may have enough staying power to continue its run.
As previously stated, Suicide Squad was #2 this weekend. Its weekend gross has increased its domestic revenue to nearly $300 million. Despite negative reviews, the latest DCEU film hasn’t fallen off the rails as quickly as Batman v. Superman did. Warner Bros shouldn’t hang their heads completely. After all, the film’s opening haul exceeded that all of prior August domestic releases. With that said, the studio has some work to do if they want to keep audiences invested in the future. Rumors of an extended cut have been dismissed, which is disappointing considering many view the extended cut of BVS as a superior version. With 3 negatively received films in a row for DC, A lot will be riding on Wonder Woman to be a critical smash hit.
The next two spots were both seized by animated films. Although final numbers have not been revealed as of yet, third place will most likely belong to Kubo and the Two Strings. Suffering a drop of almost 40% in its second weekend, Laika’s latest $60 million film will need some help to recuperate its budget. Sausage Party, with its latest weekend gross, will have made $80 million at the box office. This earns it the distinction of being the highest-grossing R-rated animated film in America.
This upcoming weekend, which happens to be Labor Day, will see the releases of The Light Between Oceans as well as Morgan.
