411 Box Office Report: Deadpool & Wolverine, Alien: Romulus Rule Labor Day Weekend

It was much of the same at the box office over Labor Day weekend as Deadpool & Wolverine and Alien: Romulus held the top spots. The third Deadpool film continued its impressive run with a fourth non-consecutive weekend at #1, down a mere 17% with $15.1 million over three days and $19.4 million through Monday.

The strong hold puts Deadpool & Wolverine over the $600 million mark, with $603.8 million state domestically and $1.262 billion worldwide. At this point it is the 16th highest domestic grosser of all-time and seems quite possible to make it past The Avengers’ $623.4 million to make it to #13. Needless to say, it’s a massive hit for the studio against a $200 million budget.

Alien: Romulus had a solid hold in its third weekend, down 43% to $9.3 million over three days and $11.5 million through Monday. It’s a good number for the sci-fi horror tentpole and puts the film at $90.9 million domestically. Even better, the film is at $285.6 million as, much like the rest of its franchise, it’s performing very well overseas. The film is already a hit against a $90 million budget, with its numbers putting it behind only Prometheus in its franchise. As of this point it looks likely to pass $115 million without much difficulty in the US, numbers that 20th Century Studios will be very happy with.

It Ends With Us also held well, down 36% in its fourth weekend with $7.4 million through Sunday and $9.5 million through Monday. The Blake Lively led romantic drama has now tallied $135.8 million domestically and $285.6 million worldwide, massive against a $25 million budget and easily on course for $150 million-plus by the end of its run.

The first of two new releases in the top 10 came in at #4 with Reagan. The Dennis Quaid-starring biopic of President Ronald Reagan opened to a decent $7.4 million over three days and $9.2 million for the four-day weekend. That’s more or less where the film, which comes from ShowBiz Direct, was expected to do.

Reagan came in a bit under the radar coming into the weekend, but the studio got the word out via targeted marketing to the oft-ignored conservative demographic. The move worked; while the film has been DOA with critics (a 19% aggregated average on Rotten Tomatoes), it’s a hit with its core audience at an A CinemaScore and a 98% RT audience score.

The audience scores will help the film’s word of mouth, which will be important for the $25 million-budgeted film so it can bank up a bit of theatrical cash before it hits digital. The film should be able to top $25 million by the end of its run and perhaps more if the word of mouth leads to stronger than expected numbers.

Twisters got a push for the Labor Day weekend that paid off as it brought in $7.2 million through Sunday and $8.1 million through Sunday. The three-day numbers were actually up 17% from last weekend – and keep in mind, this is with the film already out on digital. The disaster sequel is now at $259.6 million stateside and $358.3 million worldwide, a hit against a $155 million budget with a likely $275 million final US gross.

Blink Twice had a good hold in its second weekend as it slipped 36% to $4.7 million over three days and $6.6 million through Monday. The Zoe Kravitz-directed film is benefiting from good word of mouth and now stands at $16.5 million in the US and $23.2 million worldwide. The film still has a little way to go against a $20 million budget but it is still rolling out overseas, so it should be in fine shape. It will probably end its domestic run at $25 million.

Sony Pictures’ The Forge also held on well, down 32% in its sophomore frame to gross $4.6 million through Sunday and $6.2 million through Monday. The faith-based drama has grossed $16 million thus far, putting it in fine shape against a $5 million budget and likely closing out around $25 million.

Despicable Me 4 was down a mere 4% in its eighth weekend to bring in $4.1 million over three days and $5 million over four. The animated sequel has now grossed $355.6 million domestically and $915.3 million worldwide to date, fantastic against a $100 million budget. The film is now looking at around $360 million-plus by the end of its stateside run.

The weekend’s new horror flick was the AI-themed tech thriller Afraid, which opened quietly with $4.4 million over three days and $6.7 million through Monday. That’s somewhere on the low end of what was expected for the film, very much to be expected considering it was lightly marketed by Sony Pictures at best.

The film had very little buzz coming into the weekend. Critics have mostly yawned at Afraid, with a 22% aggregated score on RT, and audiences don’t like it with a low 48% RT audience score and C+ CinemaScore. But Sony will be fine with this, as the film cost $12 million and had low marketing costs. It probably won’t get too far above $10 million but will be profitable once it hits home viewing.

Coraline’s re-release spent a last weekend in the top 10 as it was down 40% to $3 million, with $4 million through Monday.. The 2009 stop-motion animated film now has an all-time total of $113.4 million domestically and $164.9 million worldwide.

Next weekend will a new injection into the box office as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice arrives and targets a $100 million start. Also opening is A24’s horror film The Front Room, which will be in the low single digits.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Deadpool & Wolverine – $15.2 million ($603.8 million total, $1.262 billion WW)
2. Alien: Romulus – $9.3 million ($90.9 million domestically, $285.6 million WW)
3. It Ends With Us – $7.4 million ($135.8 million total, $285.8 million WW)
4. Reagan – $7.4 million ($9.2 million, $9.2 million WW)
5. Twisters – $7.2 million ($259.6 million total, $358.3 million WW)
6. Blink Twice – $4.7 million ($16.5 million total, $23.2 million WW)
7. The Forge – $4.6 million ($16 million total, $16 million WW)
8. Despicable Me 4 – $4.1 million ($355.6 million total, $915.3 million WW)
9. Afraid – $3.7 million ($4.4 million total, $6.7 million WW)
10. Coraline (Re-release) – $3.2 million ($113.4 million total, $164.9 million WW)