1. Dunkirk- $28.1M/$102.8M
Christopher Nolan's spectacular, and rather unconventional, WWII film Dunkirk held strong for a second week with $28.1M for $102M domestic. After two weeks it has $234M worldwide, and I think we can say it's mostly based on strong word of mouth, and the strength of Nolan's brand. He's become one of the most reliable filmmakers around both in terms of quality and box office. Even his less well-regarded films, such as Interstellar, hover near the $700M mark, and when all is said and done we may say the same about Dunkirk.
2. The Emoji Movie (review)- $25.6M
I guess I could caveat this disgrace by pointing out that The Emoji Movie, which sits at 8% on Rotten Tomatoes (audiences gave it 46%) had 700 more theaters than Atomic Blonde, a far superior film with some actual worth to it. But if I'm honest it simply doesn't matter. The fact is The Emoji Movie topped Atomic Blonde and every other new release with a $25M weekend. Period. And that's sad. Although I understand many people saw it just to see how horrendous it was (I'm going to do the same thing) and the second week drop will likely be humongous, it's still just a sad sight to take in.
3. Girls Trip- $20M/$65.5M
Women are kicking ass this summer, let's keep it real. But I personally didn't think Girls Trip would amount to much. I mean, I knew it would do okay because most Will Packer-produced movies (Packer basically made Kevin Hart a star) do well with their target audience, but the $65M total it has over two weeks and the tiny 34% drop means it's clicking with everybody. Me included. I finally had a chance to catch up with the film last night and I don't know if any movie had me laughing so much. The theater was packed full, also, nearly sold out. I'm guessing it will be a day or two before we hear Regina Hall, Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, and the hilarious Tiffany Haddish are signed to a sequel.
4. Atomic Blonde (review)- $18.5M
Okay, I'm obviously pissed that Atomic Blonde got run by friggin' The Emoji Movie, but I'll try not to whine about it too much. Clearly, there was a plan in place for the Charlize Theron-led actioner. It opened on the same weekend as two previous hit female-led action flicks, Salt (with Angelina Jolie) and Lucy (with Scarlett Johansson), and didn't reach the highs of either. The $18.5M opening is pretty weak, but not a disaster. For one thing, it only cost about $30M and given the genre, Berlin setting, and Cold War era it should do very well overseas. Still, after seeing the wildly enthusiastic response to Theron's panel at Comic-Con, which featured the film's jaw-dropping centerpiece fight in full, I expected better. Then again I learned a long time ago that fanatical Comic-Con crowds rarely translate to ticket sales.
5. Spider-Man: Homecoming- $13.4M/$278.3M
Spider-Man: Homecoming has hit $633M worldwide, and I can say that last night the local theater had a line out the door for it. Crazy after four weeks.
6. War for the Planet of the Apes- $10.3M/$118.6M
7. Despicable Me 3- $7.7M/$230.4M
8. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets- $6.8M/$30.6M
Look...I didn't exactly rave over Valerian a couple of weeks ago, but this is too much. Luc Besson's gorgeous sci-fi film, with some of the best world-building you're likely to find, only has $30M against a budget hovering around $200M. It deserves better. Do yourself a huge favor and see it on the biggest screen you can.
9. Baby Driver- $4M/$92M
10. Wonder Woman- $3.5M/$395.4M
Nine weeks in and Wonder Woman just had its tiniest drop yet at only 23%. Wow.
A couple of other major releases getting a limited debut include Kathryn Bigelow's racially-charged period drama, Detroit (review), which opened in 20 locations for $365K. Not a bad start for the Anthony Mackie, John Boyega, Will Poulter film which details the 1967 12th Street Riots in Detroit.
And Al Gore's climate change doc An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (review) opened in 4 spots and earned $130K, a far cry from the $490K earned by its predecessor in 2006. But as I said in my review, the film is sorta deflating because of the current presidential administration's moves to ignore climate change. Kinda hard to get into seeing a film which makes that point even more stark.
