While it would seem like the easy money for this weekend would be on aDwayne Johnsonaction movie,Skyscraperwas no match for the animated family filmHotel Transylvania 3. The comedy sequel pulled in a solid $16.7 million at the Friday box office alone as it heads to a projected weekend total of $42 million. This is the firstHotel Transylvaniamovie to launch in the summer frame (the previous two debuted in September), but its take is in line with the previous movies. The originalHotel Transylvaniamade $42.5 million on its opening weekend while the sequel pulled in $48.5 million. That kind of consistency makes it likely that we’ll see aHotel Transylvania 4sometime in the next few years.
Skyscraper, on the other hand, was a massive disappointment no matter how you look at it. The film only made $9.3 million on Friday, and will limp to about a $24 million domestic debut. That’s a crushing defeat for Johnson (who was also a producer on the movie) Legendary, and Universal, which paid $129 million for the action movie. The film is now hoping that it can be rescued by overseas box office.Skyscraperis headed for a $41.2 million debut from 57 countries, but it opens in China on July 20th, which could make or break the movie.
Meanwhile,Ant-Man and the Waspis expected to land in the No. 2 spot this weekend after pulling in between $28-30 million. It cleared the $100 million mark earlier this week, although that’s small (no pun intended) potatoes for a Marvel movie. It will be interesting to see if the superhero sequel has any kind of legs or if it just kind of fades away with the summer.
Finally, at the specialty box office,Sorry to Bother You, which expanded to 805 theaters this weekend, is expected to crack into the Top 10 with $4 million, which is pretty great when you consider that it’s such a bonkers, unconventional picture. Meanwhile. A24’sEighth Gradeis on track to deliver the highest per-screen average of the year thus far at $63,000 per theater. It could make $253,000 over the weekend from just four theaters.
Check out the Top 5 below and check back tomorrow for full weekend estimates.
Hotel Transylvania 3
$16,650,000
Skyscraper
$9,268,000
Ant-Man and the Wasp
$8,407,000
$112,392,225
Incredibles 2
$4,600,000
$524,198,492
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
$4,433,000
$352,215,215
