As what many were expecting, DC's Suicide Squad kept the top spot, and held better than last weekend, On a weekend that was rough for most holdovers, Squad was down 52% in its third weekend to $20.7 million, for a very solid $262.3 million pick-up in 17 days. At this point, Squad will finish with a better multiple than Batman v. Superman, and with Labor Day Weekend sure to boost it a little, it has a chance at closing above $300 million stateside, which would still be fantastic for a franchise starter. Overseas, its approaching $600 million in just three weeks, and should make it at least close to $700 million.
Repeating in second place, Sausage Party is clearly showing that audiences aren't really digging what they're seeing. The raunchy animated flick was down 55% to $15.3 million, for a still very solid $65.3 million pick-up in 10 days, against a $19 million budget. The Seth Rogen production should get close to $100 million by the time its finished.
Meanwhile, opening in third place with OK results was the latest film from Todd Phillips, the director of The Hangover trilogy, War Dogs. The political, true story-based thriller opened in line with expectations, pulling in $14.3 million, for an OK $4,389 per-venue average. For Jonah Hill, this is a step up from his last headliner, The Sitter ($10 million). But this opening is more attributed to the fanbase of Phillips than anything else. Reviews were decent (58% on Rotten Tomatoes) while the CinemaScore was a mixed "B". We will see how this plays, but the film ultimately stands a chance at matching its $40 million production budget stateside.
Next up was the latest from LAIKA Studios, Kubo and the Two Strings. The stop-motion animated adventure didn't quite attract a lot of attention, earning $12.6 million, for a $3,868 per-venue average. That's the lowest start to date for the animation studio, coming in behind The Boxtrolls ($17.5 million), Coraline ($16 million) and ParaNorman ($14 million). The film had a strong marketing campaign during the Olympics, but as I mentioned before, Laika's films are more prestigious awards season fare than accessible commercial successes. And the film did receive near-universal critical acclaim (96% on Rotten Tomatoes), and looks likely to earn some awards season love. A star-studded voice cast including first time voice work for Charlize Theron and Matthew McConaughey didn't help matters here either. The CinemaScore was a strong "A" and there isn't any more competition for families until Warner Bros. Storks opens at the end of September, so it could have solid holding power until then. The budget was $60 million.
However, both new releases fared a bit better than the final new release, which crashed and burned. A remake of the 1959 Charlton Heston classic, Ben-Hur could only pull in $11.4 million in fifth place, for a mediocre $3,680 per-venue average. Despite strong support from republicans and Christians, that support apparently was not enough. Ben-Hur did open in line with Risen from the beginning of this year, but that's not an apples-to-apples comparison, as that movie had a much smaller budget. With a $100 million pricetag, this will go down as one of the biggest flops of the summer. Overseas didn't get off to a promising start either, pulling in just $10 million from a handful of markets. Reviews were bad (28% on Rotten Tomatoes), while the CinemaScore was a respectable "A-".
It may be that America is getting tired of remakes, as another one followed close behind. Disney's redo of Pete's Dragon took a direct hit from Kubo and was down 47% to $11.3 million, for a stale $42.9 million pick-up in 10 days. It should have better holding power from here as Labor Day Weekend approaches, but even overseas hasn't been good so far either. But with four titles each earning at least $340 million stateside this year, Disney is still in great shape regardless.
One of the summer's few surprises, Bad Moms, continued to have strong holding power. The R-rated comedy was off 29% to $8.1 million, for a strong $85.8 million pick-up in 24 days, against just a $20 million budget. Just behind it was Jason Bourne, which was off 42% in its fifth weekend to $8 million, for a decent $140.9 million pick-up in one month of release. Unadjusted for inflation, the spy thriller ranks 3rd out of the 5 Bourne movies, and has picked up nearly $300 million worldwide so far.
The breakout hit of the summer, The Secret Life of Pets continued to bring them in despite more competition. The Illumination Entertainment smash was off 36% in its seventh weekend to $5.8 million, for a spectacular $346.7 million pick-up in 42 days as it continues to pace ahead of Despicable Me 2. Rounding out the Top 10 in its second weekend was Florence Foster Jenkins, which held well, off 35% to $4.3 million. However, the critically-acclaimed Meryl Streep flick has only earned a modest $14.4 million in 10 days, and will probably not earn much more than $20 million stateside.
And that's about it. Next weekend will bring the debuts of three new releases that aren't getting much buzz. Horror flick Don't Breathe stands the best chance, while drama Hands of Stone and action sequel Mechanic: Resurrection also open. It's likely to be a slow end to the summer as usual.
