Crazy Rich Asians

AUGUST 20 UPDATE: Warner Bros rom-com Crazy Rich Asians opened top of the pile in North America thanks to a confirmed $26.5m gross, rising to $35.3m since Wednesday’s launch.

Meanwhile Billionaire Boys Club featuring but not starring the disgraced Kevin Spacey managed less than $300 on Friday and Saturday in a handful of non-LA and New York locations through Vertical Entertainment.

Jon M. Chu adapted Kevin Kwan’s bestseller Crazy Rich Asians, about a New York professor who travels to Singapore to meet her boyfriend’s family. Constance Wu and Henry Golding star with Awkwafina, Michelle Yeoh and Ken Jeong. The film debuted in 3,384 theatres.

Mark Wahlberg thriller Mile 22 directed by regular collaborator Peter Berg arrived at number three on $13.7m in 3,520 sites, while Studio 8’s prehistoric boy-wolf saga Alpha starring Kodi Smit-McPhee opened in fifth place on $10.5m from 2,719.

Last weekend’s champion The Meg slipped 53.4% to number two in its second session on $21.2m for $83.3m via Warner Bros, contributing to a $315.9m global tally that will stand the studio and its Chinese co-fi partner Gravity Pictures in good stead given the reported $130m production cost, which excludes marketing.

In its second session Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman did well, dropped a mere 31.9% and two slots to seven, adding $7.4m for $23.4m. Focus Features expanded the theatre count by 276 to 1,788. Horror title Slender Man fell 57.8% and four slots to number eight in its second session through Screen Gems, adding $4.8m for $20.6m.

SPC debuted drama The Wife starring Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce at number 34 on $108,284 from four sites for a $27,071 average. NEON’s Three Identical Strangers, produced by RAW and CNN Films, has reached $10.6m after eight weekends and ranks 19th.

The top 12 combined for $116.2m, down 12.6% on last weekend, and up 43.2% against the comparable session in 2017.

This week’s wide releases are: family adventure A.X.L., and Melissa McCarthy comedy The Happytime Murders starring through STX.

Confirmed top 10 North America Aug 17-19, 2018
Film (Dist) / Conf wkd gross / Conf total to date

1 (-) Crazy Rich Asians (Warner Bros) Warner Bros Pictures International $25.2m $35.3m

2 (1) The Meg (Warner Bros) Warner Bros Pictures International $21.2m $83.8m

3 (-) Mile 22 (STX) STX International $13.7m –

4 (2) Mission: Impossible – Fallout (Paramount) Paramount Pictures International $10.8m $181m

5 (-) Alpha (Studio 8) $10.4m –

6 (3) Disney’s Christopher Robin (Buena Vista) Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International $8.9m $66.9m

7 (5) BlackKklansman (Focus Features) Universal Pictures International $7.4m $23.4m

8 (4) Slender Man (Screen Gems) Sony Pictures Releasing International $4.8m $20.6m

9 (9) Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (Columbia Pictures) Sony Pictures Releasing International $3.8m $153.9m

10 (7) Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! (Universal) Universal Pictures International $3.4m $111.2m