Things were looking bleak at the box office yesterday.The Emoji Movie, easily one of the worst films of 2017, had a strong showing on Friday, to the point that it looked like the animated fiasco might very well take the weekend.Dunkirk,Christopher Nolan’s problematic yet potent war film, was right behind Sony Animation’s latest whileAtomic Blonde, the other major release of the weekend, seemed to be holding strong in the third spot. Prognostications hadEmoji MovieandDunkirkin a dogfight for the weekend, but Nolan’s film still looked to be far enough behind to giveEmojithe edge.
Thankfully, that sinking feeling in my stomach was somewhat misguided. Weekend estimates now haveDunkirkin the number one spot for its second frame with $28.1 million, whileThe Emoji Movielooks to take in $26.5 million in the second spot. For whatever my issues withDunkirk- they are largely my issues with Nolan movies in general - it’s a movie that absolutely sings on the big screen and includes some solid performances fromMark Rylance,Cillian Murphy, andFionn Whitehead.The Emoji Movie, in contrast, offers nothing but bright colors and a truly toxic perspective on the draw and popularity of life on the internet in the age of the iPhone.
Meanwhile,Atomic Blonde, a good action movie that fails to break out of a lethargic, aimless script’s confines, will bring in some $18.5 million by tomorrow morning but will not be in third place. Instead it will be coming in at fourth behind the mightyGirls Trip, which showed real legs in its second frame, bringing in $20 million. Made for under $20 million,Malcolm D. Lee’s gleefully raunchy comedy has brought in $67.5 million worldwide, which means that the movie has already recouped production budget, marketing budget, and distribution costs more than likely and is starting to see nothing but profit. If Universal is smart at all, they’ve already handed Lee a sequel and offered him other projects as well.
In contrast,Spider-Man: Homecoming, which comes in at number five with $13.4 million, cost $175 million to make and has made over $630 million worldwide, but the global marketing and distribution costs probably cost as much as the movie itself, if not more. The numbers for the Marvel-Fox movie look more impressive butGirls Tripdid its business without the all-important name-recognition element and withoutCaptain America: Civil Waras its lead-in. Lee’s success is genuine triumph;Homecomingis business as usual at best.
Here’s your top five for the weekend:
Weekend Domestic BO
Total Domestic BO
1. ‘Dunkirk’
$28,130,000
$102,836,220
2. ‘The Emoji Movie’
$25,650,000
3. ‘Girls Trip’
$20,085,540
$65,524,760
4. ‘Atomic Blonde’
$18,554,000
5. ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’
$13,450,000
$278,356,805
