Saturday Update: Jack Black’s string of family-driven successes continues this weekend as Universal’s The House With A Clock In Its Walls delivered upon expectations with a solid $7.82 million opening in first place on Friday, including Thursday evening’s take.
Co-starring Cate Blanchett and representing a notable genre shift for director Eli Roth, House With A Clock earned a strong 9.3x multiple from its $840K Thursday night gross — well exceeding the 7.85x of A Wrinkle In Time and 7.53x of Miss Peregrine. The studio is projecting a $24.25 million weekend, but should those comparison models hold up, we’re currently expecting a weekend closer to $25 million at the top of the box office.
Among the top holdovers are A Simple Favor, which eased 45 percent to $3.3 million on Friday as strong word of mouth propels it. The thriller/dark comedy has earned $25.5 million through eight days and is on course for a solid sophomore frame around $10.5 million with some potential upside.
Unfortunately, The Predator is on the opposite end of the spectrum as it slid 76 percent from opening day last week to $2.45 million yesterday. With $34.2 million earned in eight days domestically, Fox projects an $8 million second frame. Boxoffice is slightly more bullish on matinee expectations with an $8.5 million weekend estimate.
Meanwhile, Fahrenheit 11/9 ($1.055 million) and Life Itself ($760K) each debuted below already modest expectations. The former of the two is likely to be somewhat frontloaded by Michael Moore’s fan base, meaning the two could end up in a similar range when the weekend wraps up.
Friday estimates for Assassination Nation were not available at the time of publishing.
Our early weekend estimates are below, to be followed by studio estimates on Sunday.
Early Weekend Estimates (Domestic)
FRI, SEP. 21 – SUN, SEP. 23
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The House With A Clock In Its Walls | $25,000,000 | — | 3,592 | — | $6,960 | $25,000,000 | 1 | Universal Pictures |
| 2 | A Simple Favor | $10,500,000 | -34% | 3,102 | 0 | $3,385 | $32,662,414 | 2 | Lionsgate |
| 3 | The Nun | $9,200,000 | -50% | 3,707 | -169 | $2,482 | $99,845,307 | 3 | Warner Bros. |
| 4 | The Predator | $8,500,000 | -65% | 4,070 | 33 | $2,088 | $40,235,122 | 2 | Fox |
| 5 | Crazy Rich Asians | $6,400,000 | -26% | 2,802 | -583 | $2,284 | $159,324,483 | 6 | Warner Bros. |
| 6 | White Boy Rick | $5,100,000 | -42% | 2,504 | 0 | $2,037 | $17,510,368 | 2 | Sony / Studio 8 |
| 7 | Peppermint | $3,600,000 | -40% | 2,680 | -300 | $1,343 | $30,212,559 | 3 | STX Entertainment |
| 8 | Fahrenheit 11/9 | $2,400,000 | — | 1,719 | — | $1,396 | $2,400,000 | 1 | Briarcliff Entertainment |
| 9 | Life Itself | $2,300,000 | — | 2,609 | — | $882 | $2,300,000 | 1 | Amazon Studios |
| 10 | Searching | $2,100,000 | -34% | 1,787 | -222 | $1,175 | $23,040,344 | 5 | Sony Pictures |
| 11 | The Meg | $2,100,000 | -46% | 2,003 | -848 | $1,048 | $140,272,919 | 7 | Warner Bros. |
| 12 | Unbroken: Path to Redemption | $1,400,000 | -37% | 1,484 | -136 | $943 | $4,655,522 | 2 | Pure Flix |
| 13 | Disney’s Christopher Robin | $1,100,000 | -49% | 1,252 | -650 | $879 | $96,935,797 | 8 | Disney |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mission: Impossible – Fallout | $1,200,000 | -47% | 871 | -890 | $1,378 | $218,174,667 | 9 | Paramount |
| 2 | Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation | $660,000 | -15% | 518 | -155 | $1,274 | $166,136,985 | 13 | Sony / Columbia |
| 3 | BlacKkKlansman | $630,000 | -50% | 454 | -488 | $1,388 | $47,110,350 | 7 | Focus Features |
| 4 | Incredibles 2 | $560,000 | -25% | 500 | -210 | $1,120 | $606,384,358 | 15 | Disney |
| 5 | Alpha | $420,000 | -61% | 544 | -990 | $772 | $35,242,570 | 6 | Sony / Columbia |
| 6 | Operation Finale | $305,000 | -74% | 525 | -947 | $581 | $17,129,274 | 4 | MGM |
| 7 | Ant-Man and the Wasp | $270,000 | -31% | 260 | -96 | $1,038 | $215,808,206 | 12 | Disney |
| 8 | Ya Veremos | $120,000 | -55% | 114 | -140 | $1,053 | $4,009,158 | 4 | Lionsgate / Pantelion Films |
| 9 | God Bless the Broken Road | $80,000 | -81% | 224 | -977 | $357 | $2,704,823 | 3 | Freestyle Releasing |
| 10 | The Spy Who Dumped Me | $52,000 | -35% | 107 | -50 | $486 | $33,542,820 | 8 | Lionsgate |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Sisters Brothers | $100,000 | — | 4 | — | $25,000 | $100,000 | 1 | Annapurna Pictures |
| 2 | Kin (2018) | $20,000 | -34% | 77 | -39 | $260 | $5,704,168 | 4 | Lionsgate / Summit |
| 3 | A.X.L. | $15,000 | -74% | 40 | -60 | $375 | $6,415,015 | 5 | Global Road Entertainment |
| 4 | Beautifully Broken | $8,500 | 161% | 4 | -8 | $2,125 | $1,194,233 | 5 | ArtAffects Entertainment |
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Friday Update: Universal reports this morning that The House With A Clock In Its Walls earned $840K from 2,700 locations on Thursday night, getting off to a positive start ahead of the weekend which is expected to be driven by families and young audiences. For comparison purposes, last night’s take came in:
- 30 percent behind Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children ($1.2 million)
- 40 percent ahead of Goosebumps ($600K)
Meanwhile, Fahrenheit 11/9 reportedly earned $275K from last night’s opening shows. Comps are few and far between given the documentary genre and fervor of Michael Moore’s fan base.
Follow Boxoffice throughout the weekend for more updates.
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