Weekend Thread: Equalizer 2 pulls off an upset win over Mamma Mia 2 - 35.83M to 34.44M

[JB33]

I commited to waiting to watch TE2 with a friend later this week so here I am sitting down to see UNFRIENDED: DARK WEB.

 

Yeah, I know. I rock.

[expensiveho]

1 hour ago, Krissykins said:

Marvel are running ads on Instagram for Ant Man and the Wasp that say: 

 

“You know he’s an Avenger now??”

 

lol. 

I've seen you post this kind of things as if having The Avengers on your mega-franchise (the highest-grossing of them all) isn't an achievement itself.

 

I don't see any other franchise promoting their solo movies off their last team-up grossing 2b, I wonder why...

[LonePirate]

13 minutes ago, PenguinHyphy said:

It expanded more aggressively because its theater averages were big enough out of the gate. A $2,700 per theater average in 1,000 theaters for a limited release is nothing terrible either. The movie is not about to be dropped by a bunch of theaters, especially after three weeks and while being in the top ten, as you are suggesting. If the average were in the $1,000 range then yeah, but it is not anywhere near that low. Deadline put in there specialty report that it is playing really well in the northeast and the west, so it will probably lose some theaters in the South, but the theaters in the other coasts will offset that. $20,000,000 seems like a certainty to me, but we will see soon enough. 

It had the third lowest PTA in the Top 10 this weekend. With two wide releases next weekend and one of them aiming for north of 4,000 theaters, STBY will definitely be losing screens this coming weekend. $20M seems like a stretch but $18M should be achievable.

[La Binoche]

A Denzel list without The Pelican Brief aka his first 100M hit? 

 

[Barnack]

2 hours ago, a2k said:

EQ2's prod budget is only 62 according to Mojo.

 

Looks like it's set for a Rampage like run dom. Rampage had a mammoth comp in AIW in weekend 3 while EQ2 will have a smaller but still big comp in MI6 in the 2nd weekend. Around 90 dom looks very likely and can't rule out 100. Will have stronger weekdays than Rampage.

Mojo is saying 55m for the first one while it was 63m in reality, so Mojo saying 62 this time probably mean that the high 70m deadline is hearing is probably the truth.

 

Legs could be good A cinemascore, Mags 7 made 93m from a 34.7m start without summer days, making 100m possible. But it is a direct sequel this time.

[Blaze Heatnix]

It seems Equalizer 3 will be coming very soon.

 

Writer said he already has the whole movie written, and that it begins right after the second one, meaning no time jumps...

 

Producer also says he wants a third movie. Denzel will get a trilogy.

[Webslinger]

Solid weekend for The Equalizer 2. It finished about several million short of the first film's adjusted opening, but that was to be expected considering that it was made and sold more as another vehicle for Denzel Washington than as a brand name. Even with tough competition from Mission: Impossible next weekend, it should still be able to cross $100 million domestically. 

 

Mamma Mia! also had a solid opening, though it was a bit frontloaded and landed a little beneath the first film's adjusted mark. Universal did a great job of exploiting the target audience's nostalgia for both ABBA and the first film (weird to be talking about "nostalgia" with respect to a 2008 film, yet here we are). Replicating the previous film's monstrous staying power is probably too tall of an order, but it should see a pretty leggy run and a total well north of the $100 million mark.

 

Hotel Transylvania 3 put up by far the weakest hold and lowest second weekend gross of the franchise to date, but summer weekdays propel it to the highest ten-day total. I'm thinking it will ultimately land between the two previous film's final grosses, though better weekend holds in tandem with strong weekday business could put it within striking range of the second film's $169.7 million gross.

 

Ant-Man and the Wasp stabilized nicely after last weekend's alarming drop. That should put any doubts about its ability to cross $200 million to rest.

 

Incredibles 2 continues to show great staying power as its run progresses. It should least flirt with the $600 million mark if it continues to hold well during the weekends and kick ass during the week.

 

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has also been gaining steam in its staying power. It will cross $400 million without breaking a sweat and could potentially be looking at something closer to the $410-415 million range.

 

Skyscraper got hit hard, as expected. It won't have much luck against Mission: Impossible next weekend either. With a total that should fall around $65-70 million, it's a rare domestic miss for The Rock. (On an unrelated note, I still find it odd that it was directed by the guy best known for Dodgeball. I know he did Central Intelligence as well, but going from broad comedy to purportedly "serious" action feels like an unusual jump.)

 

The First Purge appears to be on track to finish close to the second film's final gross - not bad for a prequel, especially when these films have two-year gaps rather than the annual release pattern that kept the Saw and Paranormal Activity franchises afloat in their respective heydays.

 

Unfriended: Dark Web had a predictably soft start. The previous film seemed like one that didn't call for a sequel, so this film's existence (or rather, its branding connection with the 2015 film) has been odd from the very beginning.

 

Sorry to Bother You held up decently considering how off-kilter it allegedly gets. I hope it continues to expand (it still isn't playing anywhere within two hours of me), but it probably won't go much further with the significant per-theater average drop.

[La Binoche]

Lack of Meryl hurt MM2, as expected. 

The average person is thinking "well if it wasn't good enough for Meryl to come back...", unaware that it's actually better than the 1st film (except for some of the b-side Abba songs). 

[MovieMan89]

Anyone know if Meryl did turn down a significant role in MM2 or was the script always written without her? 

[CoolioD1]

29 minutes ago, MovieMan89 said:

Anyone know if Meryl did turn down a significant role in MM2 or was the script always written without her? 

probably the latter. i bet she begged to be in it but they were all "forget it lady. who needs you we've got baby driver's girlfriend"

[Bishop54]

Hot Take: Equalizer 2 would have bombed had Cloe Moretz reprised her role from the first film.

 

[La Binoche]

39 minutes ago, MovieMan89 said:

Anyone know if Meryl did turn down a significant role in MM2 or was the script always written without her? 

The film's producer said Meryl doesn't like to repeat herself and that she felt she'd already done everything there was for her to do with the first film. So it was her choice. 

Edited July 23, 2018 by La Binoche

[DeWeese]

59 minutes ago, La Binoche said:

Lack of Meryl hurt MM2, as expected. 

The average person is thinking "well if it wasn't good enough for Meryl to come back...", unaware that it's actually better than the 1st film (except for some of the b-side Abba songs). 

 

Much better film all around, I actually prefer the song selection on here we go again it’s good to see some lesser known abba classics being brought back to the forefront 

[AJG]

1 hour ago, MovieMan89 said:

Anyone know if Meryl did turn down a significant role in MM2 or was the script always written without her? 

 

My guess is that the script was written without her, they left an extra space for her to pop up if they managed to agree to something.

 

Meryl Streep ends up doing 2 days work and gets PAID, and gets an extra bag for letting Universal use her face in the promos. 

Edited July 23, 2018 by AJG

[MrGlass2]

3 minutes ago, AJG said:

 

Meryl Streep ends up doing 2 days work and gets PAID, and gets an extra bag for letting Universal use her face in the promos. 

And an Oscar.

[That One Girl]

I saw Unfriended: Dark Web and thought it was pretty solid

[La Binoche]

9 minutes ago, AJG said:

 

My guess is that the script was written without her, they left an extra space for her to pop up if they managed to agree to something.

 

Meryl Streep ends up doing 2 days work and gets PAID, and gets an extra bag for letting Universal use her face in the promos. 

 

No. It's Meryl Streep. The first thing they did was go to her. But she didn't want to headline the sequel. 

[That One Girl]

7 minutes ago, That One Guy said:

I saw Unfriended: Dark Web and thought it was pretty solid

 

It’s also the superior game night-themed movie of the year.

[AJG]

8 minutes ago, La Binoche said:

No. It's Meryl Streep. The first thing they did was go to her. But she didn't want to headline the sequel. 

 

And thus they made the film, negotiated something, and Streep got herself her money.

[La Binoche]

We need Sunday #s to clear up this phot finish.