USA TODAY International Edition
‘Scary’ frightens ‘Hobbs & Shaw’ for 2nd
LOS ANGELES – Audiences helped the “Fast & Furious” spinoff “Hobbs & Shaw” take another lap at No. 1, even with an onslaught of four new major releases this weekend.
From family films to R-rated adult fare, moviegoers had their pick as studios tried to capitalize on the waning days of summer. “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” fared better than others, such as the Melissa McCarthy and Tiffany Haddish Mob thriller “The Kitchen.”
“There are always going to be casualties when there are this many,” says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Comscore. “They cannot always be lined up in the top four rankings.”
According to studio estimates Sunday, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham’s “Hobbs & Shaw” fell 58% from its first weekend but added $25.4 million from North American theaters. It has now grossed $108.5 million domestically and $332.6 million worldwide.
Second place went to the Guillermo del Toro-produced PG-13 horror film “Scary Stories,” with a better-than-expected $20.8 million.
Close behind in third was “The Lion King” with $20 million in its fifth weekend in theaters. With $1.3 billion globally, it has now surpassed “Beauty and the Beast” as Disney’s highest-grossing live-action release.
Newcomer “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” found a healthy audience, too, earning an estimated $17 million for a fourth-place start. In fifth place, Quentin Tarantino’s star vehicle “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood” added $11.6 million and crossed the $100 million mark (with $100.3 million).
But not all the newcomers were so lucky. The dog-owner tearjerker “The Art of Racing in the Rain,” with Milo Ventimiglia, opened in sixth place with $8.1 million. And the ’70s-set “The Kitchen” flopped with only $5.5 million.
Audiences also had a slew of new limited releases from which to choose: The BTS concert film “Bring the Soul: The Movie” ($2.3 million); “Brian Banks,” based on the real story of a false accusation that upends a promising football star’s life ($2.1 million); “The Peanut Butter Falcon,” with Shia LaBeouf and Dakota Johnson ($205,236); and “After the Wedding,” with Michelle Williams and Julianne Moore ($57,124).
Final numbers are expected Monday.