The last few weeks of summer are always a bit fallow, as studios mostly release their leftover pictures, or the movies that might not fare as well with stiffer competition. And without much in the way of heavyweights to contend with, Warner Bros.‘ “Suicide Squad” has had some room to flex its muscle.
For the third straight week, the antihero DC Films effort has topped the box office. It was a quiet weekend overall at the multiplex, but the movie still snapped up $20.7 million, bringing the domestic total to $262 million, leaving it in good shape to cross the $300 million mark. Internationally, “Suicide Squad” has now crossed that barrier, with the picture now tallying $310 million, but it leaves the global total still a fair distance off the $750-800 million that it’s reported the picture needs to earn to be deemed a success by WB.
The studio also took third place this week, with “War Dogs” earning $14.3 million. While no one was expecting “The Hangover“-sized numbers from director Todd Phillips, the picture marks his lowest opening since 2000’s “Road Trip,” so that has to be something of a disappointment. For Jonah Hill, he’s had a good handful of other films debut with stronger numbers, though Miles Teller will be happy with his best leading-man outing ever (not counting blockbuster ensemble turns in the “Divergent” films or “Fantastic Four“).
Despite having an all-star voice cast including Matthew McConaughey, Charlize Theron, Ralph Fiennes and Rooney Mara, Laika couldn’t get “Kubo And The Two Strings” to connect, with the picture earning $12.6 million. It’s the worst opening to date from the indie animation house, and particularly a bummer given the strong critical notices it has received.
READ MORE: Laika’s ‘Kubo And The Two Strings’ Will Enchant Adults And Children Alike [Review]
Meanwhile, the writing was on the wall for weeks that Paramount‘s “Ben-Hur” was going to tank; the question was just how badly. With $11.3 million, it’s even worse than the $15 million earlier tracking suggested, leaving the $100 million Biblical epic as one of the biggest flops of the year. Even internationally, the movie could only manage to scrape together another $10 million.
In limited release: Natalie Portman‘s “A Tale Of Love Darkness” took $36,000 on two screens; “The People vs. Fritz Bauer” landed $33,781 on six screens, while “Morris From America” tallied up $16,000 in a pair of cinemas.
1. “Suicide Squad” — $20.7 million ($262.2 mil.)
2. “Sausage Party” — $15.3 million ($65.3 mil.)
3. “War Dogs” — $14.3 million
4. “Kubo And The Two Strings” — $12.6 million
5. “Ben-Hur” — $11.35 million
6. “Pete’s Dragon” — $11.33 million ($42.8 mil.)
7. “Bad Moms” — $8 million ($85.8 mil.)
8. “Jason Bourne” — $7.9 million ($140.8 mil.)
9. “The Secret Life Of Pets” — $5.7 million ($346.7 mil.)
10. “Florence Foster Jenkins” — $4.3 million ($14.4 mil.)
A couple of weeks ago, all the talk was about how Suicide Squad obliterated the opening weekend “record” for the month of August (historically a month where few blockblusters open) previously set by Guardians of the Galaxy. Well, GotG exceeded $25 million domestically in its 3rd weekend. SS has no chance of catching GotG’s $773 worldwide box office haul either. They had a tremendously front-loaded opening weekend thanks to fanboys and a massive marketing campaign. But just like B vs. S, this movie has taken a quick nose dive at the box office. The critics took a lot of heat on this movie but it’s clear that audiences, at least on the average, aren’t overly enamored with it. It’s not getting the repeat business, word of mouth business or general audience business that movies like Deadpool and GotG got. Perhaps it’s really just a mediocre movie after all.