We take a closer look at the week’s box office winners and losers. As your resident prognosticator, we’ll also share some of our predictions for the coming week.
Photocredit @ Warner Bros. Pictures
Great reviews and strong word of mouth ensures It continues its dominant run through the box office for the second week running. The critically-acclaimed (85% Fresh, 72 Metascore) Stephen King adaptation is now the second biggest horror film of the year, behind Annabelle: Creation.
Falling just 5% from its opening week, It scared up another healthy $950,000, bringing its total up to $2M and making it the highest grossing movie of September so far.
Photocredit @ Intercontinental Film Distributors (HK)
Despite lacklustre reviews (17% Rotten, 47 Metascore), the Andy Lau-Shu Qi Hong Kong action adventure maintains its spot among the top three, falling about 50% but bringing up its total gross to $900,000. Combined with international markets, it should easily recoup its RMB150 million ($30 million) production budget.
Photocredit @ Paramount Pictures
Darren Aronofsky’s (“Black Swan”) polarising psychological thriller debuts in second place with $156,000. Starring Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem, the film had been fairly well-received by critics (68% Fresh, 74 Metascore) in festival circuits.
However, Mother! was torn apart by audiences when it went wide, who gave it an “F’ score according to a recent survey. Many were upset that the marketing promised a more conventional horror film while it was anything but.
Photocredit @ 20th Century Fox
Unless Pennywise the Dancing Clown conjures up another spell, the highly-anticipated sequel to 2015’s breakout spy hit is expected to dethrone It from the top spot.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle will be opening against Oscar-calibre dramas Stronger starring Jake Gyllenhaal and The Glass Castle starring Brie Larson, British horror Nails, and feel-good Chinese romance Soul Mate, but none of them are likely to pose a challenge.
Photocredit @ Beijing Jiaying Pictures
With Kingsman: The Golden Circle and It jostling for box office superiority, Mother!’s position on the podium looks relatively safe… for now. However, we expect strong showings from Soul Mate and Korean fan-favourite action comedy Midnight Runners, so an upset is definitely not off the table.
*All numbers are in estimates.
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