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411 Box Office Report: The House With a Clock in Its Walls Leaps to #1 Start

September 23, 2018 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
The House with a Clock In Its walls

Jack Black returned to the top of the box office this weekend, as The House With a Clock in Its Walls claimed the #1 spot. The kid-friendly fantasy film overindexed with a $26.9 million opening, nicely ahead of the $20 million that most expected it to do. That start compares nicely with the $23.6 million opening that the similarly-themed Black-led Goosebumps did in October of 2015. It also represents the best first weekend for director Eli Roth, better known for his gore-laden horror films. Roth’s previous high was Hostel, which opened to $19.6 million back in January of 2006.

The House With a Clock in Its Walls had a lot going for it heading into the weekend, notably including a lack of direct competition. September was heavy on adult and fandom-centric fare, with nary a family option to be seen. That coupled well with Universal’s effective marketing efforts, which painted the film as a creepy but kid-friendly event-style film. The name value of Black and co-star Cate Blanchett didn’t hurt matters either, especially with Black coming off the success of his role in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Universal has to be quite happy with this opening, considering that the budget was a relatively modest $42 million (plus marketing, of course).

At this point, things look pretty rosy for the film. Despite some competition coming next week in the animated Smallfoot, the signs are there for House With a Clock in Its Walls to leg out fairly well. Again, the comparison is Goosebumps which had a 3.39 multiple. House has slightly less positive critical reception (67% on Rotten Tomatoes vs. Goosebumps’ 77%), and word of mouth is a touch lower at a B+ CinemaScore to Goosebumps’ A. But even with those, it seems likely that this one will get gross at least three times its opening in the US. That would give it a $80 million total, right on par with Goosebumps. Overseas the film has opened in a few markets and brought in $3.1 million for a $30 million worldwide start. In the end, this should be profitable and a sequel could well be on the way.

Coming in at #2 was Paul Feig’s A Simple Favor, which is proving to have our predicted staying power with a mere 35% drop to $10.4 million. The Anna Kendrick/Blake Lively-led film saw strong holds throughout the week, and its relatively small slip in weekend two is indicative of the strong critical reaction and audience word of mouth. The movie now has $32.6 million domestically and $42.6 million worldwide. It will likely be a decent success for Lionsgate against its $20 million budget.

After its hefty drop last weekend, The Nun stabilized in weekend three with $10.3 million. That’s a 44% hold for the film, which is well on its way to becoming the biggest hit of the Conjuring universe. The horror film is currently at $100.9 million domestically and an impressive $292.6 million worldwide on a budget of just $22 million. As it stands, the film is just a hair’s breadth from Annabelle:Creation’s $102.1 million domestic final and The Conjuring 2’s $102.5 million. If it holds on well, it can conceivably top The Conjuring’s $137.4 million for the best domestic grosser in the franchise. Internationally, it doesn’t have far to go as The Conjuring 2 rules that roost at $320.4 million. This horror cinematic universe will undoubtedly continue.

To no one’s surprise, The Predator had a nose dive in its second weekend. The Shane Black-directed revival of the series brought in $8.7 million, down a rough 65% from its starting weekend. There is a bright side to this, albeit a dim one — that drop is better than Predators’ brutal 72% drop in 2010. However, that film could afford the higher drop, as the budget was less than half of The Predator’s. The newest film is currently sitting at $40.4 million domestically and is starting to blossom overseas, with a worldwide total of $95 million. It still has a ways to go until it hits a profit though, thanks to an $88 million budget plus marketing. A final domestic take of $55 million to $60 million seems likely, and that may well not be enough of the foreign grosses don’t overperform.

Crazy Rich Asians continued its stellar performance, as it dropped just 25% in its sixth weekend to $6.5 million. The romantic comedy has now grossed $159.4 million domestically and $206.4 million worldwide, making it a huge hit on a $30 million budget. The movie is still on course for $170 million to $180 million domestically in the US, which would make it one of the highest-grossing romcoms of all-time.

White Boy Rick eased in its second weekend as it tried desperately to find an audience. The Matthew McConaughey-starring drama was off 44% to $5 million. That’s not great, but could have been a lot worse considering the mild reviews and word of mouth. White Boy Rick has totalled $17.4 million thus far and looks likely to finish off at around $35 million in the US. That won’t be enough for profit on a $29 million budget.

Peppermint held on pretty decently in its third weekend, down 38% to $3.7 million. The action-thriller is fighting to break even right now, and that will largely depend on whether the overseas releases perform well. The movie currently stands at $30.3 million domestically and $36.3 million worldwide, with a domestic final of $40 million seeming likely. The budget was $25 million, so this may not be a money maker.

Michael Moore’s latest documentary opened at #8, with Fahrenheit 11/9 bringing in $3.1 million. That is…honestly not a great start for Moore. The opening ranks below the wide releases of 2007’s Sicko ($3.6 million), 2009’s Capitalism: A Love Story ($4.4 million) and particularly Fahrenheit 9/11, which scored $23.9 million in 2004. No one thought this was going to do 9/11 numbers, to be fair. But most had it pegged in the mid-single digits at least, considering the positive word of mouth and buzz coming on the back of strong reviews and reaction from Toronto International Film Fest.

So where did this go wrong? People are going to throw all sorts of incendiary claims relating to politics, and those aren’t necessarily unfair. The most likely option is that people are weary of politics in general right now, and are seeking escapism rather than to be reminded of everything that’s going on. It is also worth mentioning that audiences could be documentaried-out right now. 2018 has seen several high-profile documentary wide releases, including biopics Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Whitney, RBG — the last about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — and the right-wing docu Death of a Nation. That all seems to be have been too much, especially for a film pushed into wide release instead of having a chance to platform up. 11/9 will have solid leg — it played to an adoring crowd who gave it an A CinemaScore — but it could have done much better with a better release strategy. A $10 million or so final gross should be doable, which will be a profit.

The Meg brought in $2.4 million in its seventh weekend, down a cool 39% from last weekend. The action film has not hit $140.5 million domestically and a stellar $516.4 million worldwide. Warner Bros. is ringing up very good profits on this $130 million-budgeted film, which will likely end its US run at around $146 million.

Screen Gems’ Searching also continues to hold on well. The techno-thriller scored another $2.2 million, down just 32% in its fifth weekend. The John Cho-starring film is now at $23.1 million domestically and $54.2 million worldwide. We still don’t have a budget on this one, but it is almost certainly a nice profit maker for Screen Gems. It should make its way to a $30 million domestic total.

Next weekend will likely see Kevin Hart return to the top of the box office with Night School. The comedy is tracking to do around $25 million, easily enough for #1. Animated film Smallfoot is looking at the vicinity of $20 million, while Lionsgate’s horror film Hell Fest should start in the mid-single digits.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. The House With a Clock in Its Walls – $26.9 million ($26.9 million total)
2. A Simple Favor – $10.4 million ($32.6 million total)
3. The Nun – $10.3 million ($100.9 million total)
4. The Predator – $8.7 million ($40.4 million total)
5. Crazy Rich Asians – $6.5 million ($159.4 million total)
6. White Boy Rick – $5 million ($17.4 million total)
7. Peppermint – $3.7 million ($30.3 million total)
8. Fahrenheit 11/9 – $3.1 million ($3.1 million total)
9. The Meg – $2.4 million ($140.5 million total)
10. Searching – $2.2 million ($23.1 mililon total)