August continues to produce big numbers. Blake Lively’s adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel It Ends With Us scored big, earning a massive $50 million from 4,230 theaters. That’s a big step up from the take of Sony’s Where the Crawdads Sing ($17M) and yet another reminder that female-skewed dramas, particularly those inspired by books, lead to strong box office.
As great as that number was, Lively couldn’t take down her husband Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool & Wolverine, which earned $54M in its third weekend and has now grossed $1.029 billion worldwide. The Marvel team-up action/comedy still has a long way to go if it hopes to surpass Inside Out 2 ($1.593B) as the top-grossing picture of 2024. Currently Shawn Levy’s film ranks No. 48 on the all-time worldwide earners.
Elsewhere, Eli Roth’s video game adaptation, Borderlands, fell flat with a putrid $8.8M. Ouch. The $110-120M picture earned dismal reviews (9% on RottenTomatoes) and failed to create much interest despite its Guardians of the Galaxy-esque vibe.
Finally, NEON’s Cuckoo collected a solid $3M against a $7M budget, per Deadline.
This week sees the release of Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus, which numerous pundits are projecting to hit anywhere from $35-$50M in its opening weekend. Will Summer 2024 go out with a bang?
Box Office Results: Domestic Top 10
1.) Deadpool & Wolverine (Dis) 4,230 (+20) theaters, Fri $15.6M (-44%) 3-day $55.8M (-42%), Total $495.9M/Wk 3
2.) It Ends With Us (Sony) 3,611 theaters, Fri $24M, 3-day $45M-$49M/Wk 1
3.) Twisters (Uni/WB) 3,664 (-345) theaters, $4.4M (-33%), 3-day $15.4M(-32%), Total $222.7M/Wk 4
4.) Borderlands (LG) 3,125 theaters, Fri $4M, 3-day $8M-$10M/Wk 1
5.) Despicable Me 4 (Uni) 3,009 (-367) theaters, Fri $2.5M (-25%) 3-day $8.75M (-24%), Total $330.8M/Wk 6
6.) Trap (WB) 3,181 theaters, Fri $2M (-69%) 3-day $6.7M (-56%), Total $28.7M/Wk 2
7.) Inside Out 2 (Dis) 2,200 (-415) theaters Fri $1.5M (-24%) 3-day $5.2M (-23%) Total $636.7M/Wk 9
8.) Harold and the Purple Crayon (Sony) 3325 theaters, Fri $1M (-56%), 3-day $3.5M (-42%)/Total $13.2M/ Wk 2
9.) Cuckcoo (NEON) 1,503 theaters, Fri $1.35M 3-day $3M, Wk 1
10.) Longlegs (NEON) 1,310 (-840) theatres, Fri $600K (-54%), 3-day $1.9M (-55%), Total $71.1M/Wk 5
