Don't Breathe Scares Off Competition with $26M Opening Weekend
by Brad Brevet
August 28, 2016


Led by a fantastic opening for Screen Gems' new thriller Don't Breathe, this weekend over performed expectations with the top twelve delivering a 43.5% improvement over the same weekend last year, just barely coming up shy of a combined $100 million.

Along with the stellar opening for Don't Breathe, Mechanic: Resurrection had a solid opening for Lionsgate & Co., the moderate release of Southside with You performed well, the expansion of Hell or High Water continues to impress.

Bad Moms had another great hold as the R-rated comedy approaches $100 million domestically.







At the top, Don't Breathe delivered an estimated $26.1 million besting Mojo's projections, which were nearly double the studio's conservative expectations, by $5.6 million. The film, which was made for just under $10 million, delivered 2.6 times its budget domestically and received a "B+" CinemaScore from opening day audiences.

Depending on next weekend's holdover, a range of $55-65 million domestically seems reasonable given the film's strong opening and 87% rating on RottenTomatoes.







The weekend's other new wide release within the top ten is Mechanic: Resurrection, which is the first wide release from Lionsgate's specialty arm Lionsgate Premiere, which has typically delivered limited and On Demand releases, in conjunction with Lionsgate-owned Summit Entertainment.

Resurrection received a "B+" CinemaScore from opening day audiences and finished fifth with an estimated $7.5 million weekend, which is on the higher end of weekend expectations.







This weekend also featured two moderate releases opening in just over 800 theaters each. First off, Roadside and Miramax's story of Barack and Michelle Obama's first date in Southside with You delivered an estimated $3 million from 813 theaters.

The film was one of the hot acquisitions from the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and has the distinction of having the largest opening weekend so far when compared to the rest of 2016's Sundance acquisitions.







The Weinstein's release of Hands of Stone into 810 theaters delivered an estimated $1.7 million.

The film was original slated to go wide in approximately 2,000 theaters this weekend, but the plan now is to expand this coming Wednesday, adding approximately 1,500 theaters ahead of the long Labor Day weekend.







Looking at the week's holdovers, Suicide Squad dropped only 42% for a second place finish with an estimated $12.1 million bringing its domestic cume to $282.9 million.

Internationally the film added another $19.6 million this weekend bringing its international cume to $353.1 million and a worldwide gross-to-date of $636 million, ranking eighth amongst all 2016 releases.







Focus and Laika's Kubo and the Two Strings dropped only 37% in its second weekend for an estimated $7.9 million and Sony's Sausage Party brought in another $7.66 million for a fourth place finish in its third weekend as the R-rated animated feature's domestic cume now sits just over $80 million.

Other sophomore sessions include a 51% drop for WB's War Dogs, which finished seventh with an estimated $7.25 million for a cume totaling $27.7 million and Paramount and MGM's Ben-Hur dropped even more than projected, falling nearly 60% for an estimated $4.5 million and a tenth place finish.







Elsewhere in the top ten, STX's Bad Moms continues its impressive domestic run, dropping a mere 27.5% in its fifth weekend, bringing in an estimated $5.76 million as its domestic cume now stands at $95.4 million with $100 million firmly in its sights.

Just outside the top ten we find CBS Films and Lionsgate's slowly expanding release of Hell or High Water, which is now playing in 909 theaters (+437) and brought in an estimated $3.7 million. The film will continue its expansion next week.







In limited release it was Cohen Media's re-release of Howards End that topped the per theater charts as it brought in an estimated $24,822 from two theaters for a $12,411 PTA.

Just behind it Sony Classics' release of The Hollars brought in an estimated $46,068 from four theaters for a $11,517 PTA.







Finally, with an estimated $271,000 this weekend, Disney's The Jungle Book has now passed Deadpool to become the third largest domestic release of 2016 with $363.5 million.

Disney now holds the top three positions at the 2016 domestic box office and the top four positions at the 2016 worldwide box office.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4218&p=.htm









August 26-28, 2016 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Don't Breathe $26,115,000
2. Suicide Squad $12,110,000 / $282,882,627
3. Kubo and the Two Strings $7,909,000 / $24,920,378
4. Sausage Party $7,665,000 / $80,008,510
5. Mechanic: Resurrection $7,500,000
6. Pete's Dragon $7,282,000 / $54,715,378
7. War Dogs $7,255,000 / $27,757,687
8. Bad Moms $5,760,000 / $95,453,235
9. Jason Bourne $5,230,000 / $149,357,235
10. Ben-Hur $4,530,000 / $19,552,877

Don't Breathe Repeats Atop Weekend Box Office Over Slow Labor Day Weekend
by Brad Brevet
September 4, 2016


Labor Day weekend is sending the Summer 2016 movie season out with more of a whimper than a bang, but that isn't to say there aren't performances that stand out. While the weekend's two new wide releases — The Light Between Oceans and Morgan — failed to have much of an impact on the overall weekend, Sony's horror/thriller Don't Breathe became only the second horror film to top the weekend box office two weekends in a row since 2014.

On top of that, Bad Moms has now crossed the $100 million mark domestically, Suicide Squad will soon top $300 million and The Secret Life of Pets moved up another notch on the all-time animated list while Finding Dory continued to pad its lead.







With an estimated $15.7 million three-day weekend Screen Gems' Don't Breathe finished atop the box office for a second weekend in a row with a drop of just 41% as its cume now sits just over $51 million after ten days in release.

The film, which carries a budget just under $10 million, is looking to add another $3.7 million on Monday for a four-day haul of nearly $20 million and a cume approaching $55 million.







Dropping just 18% in its fifth weekend in release, Suicide Squad scored a second place finish with an estimated $10 million three-day weekend.

The film is now looking to pull in another $3+ million on Monday as its domestic cume should cross $300 million by the end of the day Monday or early on Tuesday, becoming the eighth release of 2016 to cross that mark and making it the 15th highest grossing superhero release of all-time domestically, pushing ahead of Man of Steel ($291m).







A pair of family films came in third and fourth with Pete's Dragon dropping a mere 13% in its fourth weekend in release for an estimated $6.47 million three-day and Kubo and the Two Strings fell just 17.6% for an estimated $6.46 million.

Rounding out the top five was Sony's R-rated animated feature Sausage Party with an estimated $5.3 million as its cume now stands at $88.4 million.







Sixth position is where we find the first of the weekend's new releases, that being Disney's release of the Dreamworks drama The Light Between Oceans. With an estimated $4.9 million three-day from 1,500 theaters the film came in well below expectations and is looking to finish around $6.3 million for the four-day weekend.

The film received a "B+" CinemaScore from opening day audiences and the demographic breakdown for the weekend was 66% female vs. 34% male with 91% of the audience coming in over the age of 26.





The other new wide release of the weekend was Fox's sci-fi thriller Morgan. Directed by Luke Scott, son of Ridley Scott, the R-rated feature finished in 17th position with an estimated $1.96 million opening weekend from 2,020 theaters.

This is the seventh worst opening all-time for a film opening in more than 2,000 theaters, just behind last year's box office bust We are Your Friends.



Budgeted at just $8 million, expectation heading into the weekend was for a four-day haul around $6 million, right now it's looking to finish around $2.4 million at best.

Demographic information was not immediately available, but opening day audiences didn't seem to take to it, scoring the film with a "C+" CinemaScore, which doesn't bode well for its future prospects.







Moving back into the top ten, with an estimated $4.7 million for the three-day weekend, STX's Bad Moms is now the 19th 2016 release to cross $100 million domestically.

This is STX's first $100 million domestic earner since the company started distributing movies just over a year ago with the release of The Gift last August.







In ninth position, CBS Films and Lionsgate's Hell or High Water continues to pave its own way as it delivered an impressive $4.5 million over the three-day weekend from 1,303 theaters and is expected to finish around $5.8 million for the four-day holiday.

This is the film's first time in the weekend top ten after finishing just outside over the last couple weekends, but strong reviews and word of mouth have helped as it has now shown improvement over all four weeks of its release.

The film debuted in just 32 theaters back in mid-August and has now grossed $14.6 million domestically.







Finishing just outside the top ten with an estimated $3.65 million was Lionsgate's release of No Manches Frida. The Spanish-language release debuted in just 362 theaters and received an "A" CinemaScore.

This marks the second largest release for Lionsgate's Pantelion label, behind only Instructions Not Included, which debuted with $7.8 million from 348 theaters back in 2013.







Elsewhere, with an estimated $3.5 million, Illumination's The Secret Life of Pets has now grossed over $358.5 million domestically, making it the eighth largest animated release of all-time, moving ahead of Pixar's Inside Out.

Internationally the film is has brought in $403 million for a $761.5 million worldwide gross-to-date.







Disney brought Finding Dory back into wide release and the film delivered an estimated $1.9 million three-day weekend and is expected to add another $700k tomorrow.

Its domestic cume soon climbs to over $482 million, widening its lead as the #1 animated film of all-time domestically.







In limited release Fox International debuted Naam Hai Akira in 71 theaters where it grossed an estimated $140,000.

FilmRise's White Girl brought in an estimated $36,000 from three theaters.

Paladin's release of Max Rose, Jerry Lewis's first starring role in 20 years, opened with an estimated $4,000 from one screen in New York. Max Rose expands next weekend in Los Angeles while also expanding throughout the Tri-state area.



Overall, the top twelve grossed just under $75 million this weekend, down 24% compared to last weekend and down 13% compared to the same weekend last year.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4220&p=.htm









September 2-4, 2016 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Don't Breathe $15,700,000 / $51,123,952
2. Suicide Squad $10,005,000 / $297,422,209
3. Pete's Dragon $6,471,000 / $64,222,939
4. Kubo and the Two Strings $6,467,000 / $34,328,436
5. Sausage Party $5,300,000 / $88,446,124
6. The Light Between Oceans $4,984,000
7. Bad Moms $4,740,000 / $102,527,194
8. War Dogs $4,705,000 /$35,217,809
9. Hell or High Water $4,500,000 / $14,651,633
10. Mechanic: Resurrection $4,276,000 / $14,418,786