The big story coming out of this weekend’s box-office numbers, and deservedly so, is that movies with all Asian-American casts can succeed at the box office, which Crazy Rich Asians — the first movie with an all Asian cast in the 25 years since Joy Luck Club — proved by racking up $24.2 million over the weekend and $33.2 million since it debuted on Wednesday (Joy Luck Club, conversely, earned only $32 million over its entire run in 1993). That’s huge because it means that studios will be far more willing to take risks on movies like Crazy Rich Asians, which means a large segment of the American population will see more representation in the movies they watch (the composition of the opening weekend audience for Crazy Rich Asians was 38 percent Asian moviegoers). Everyone involved in the film should be taking a huge victory lap this weekend, if only for that reason alone.
However, the performance of Crazy Rich Asians also proves something else: That romantic comedies are still a viable genre for multiplexes, so long as the product is actually good, and Crazy Rich Asians is exactly that: A phenomenal, romantic, entertaining and funny crowd-pleaser that both critics and audiences alike enjoyed (it fetched 92 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and an A Cinemascore).
Wow. Theatre was packed for #crazyrichasians Didn’t know what to expect. But it blew my socks off. Holy crap. What an awesome movie!! Haven’t seen a movie that good in a long, long time.
— Chris Pratt (@prattprattpratt) August 19, 2018
The last time a romantic comedy played this well in theaters was Amy Schumer’s 2015 movie Trainwreck and there have only been a handful of rom-coms to break $30 million in their first five days dating back to 2009’s The Proposal (written by Pete Chiarelli, who also co-wrote … Crazy Rich Asians).
That’s huge news for romantic comedy fans after studios had seemingly all but given up on them (these days, they’re more likely to be found on Netflix than in theaters). It’s even better news for Crazy Rich Asians’ stars Henry Golding and Constance Wu, because if the romcom does make a comeback, they’re well positioned to be the Matthew McConaughey and Katherine Heigl of the next romcom cycle, although hopefully they’ll be pickier in how they pick their projects.
Romcoms are also great because they bring out a different audience, one that doesn’t necessarily converge too much with the action-movie crowd, because The Meg continued to put up impressive numbers in its second weekend, nearly approaching $21 million, or less than what most predicted the movie would earn in its first weekend. With that haul, the Jason Statham film has now logged $82 million in its first ten days, well on its way to $100 million domestic, in addition to gigantic numbers its putting up overseas (it earned $50 million with his opening in China alone). A sequel seems all but inevitable, as is the 2027 blockbuster Alien vs. Godzilla vs. King Kong vs. The Meg.
The weekend did not, however, offer a lot of great news for director Peter Berg, whose Mile 22 is his fourth movie in a row starring Mark Wahlberg. It’s interesting that Wahlberg continues to go back to that well because aside from Lone Survivor, it hasn’t been a profitable partnership. Mile 22 is unlikely to break that streak, earning only $13 million in its opening weekend after getting creamed by critics (20 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) and being dismissed by audiences, who gave it a B- Cinemascore. That Italian Job sequel cannot come soon enough for Wahlberg.
Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible — Fallout captured the fourth spot this weekend, earning $10.1 million to bring its four-week total to $181 million. It’s road to the franchise-high $215 million earned by Mission Impossible 2 seems to have been derailed by the huge success of The Meg, although its still doing very well globally (it’s earned over $475 million, so far, and it still hasn’t opened in China). Disney’s Christopher Robin landed in fifth place this week with $9.6 million and it has quietly earned $67 million, so far.
Another big disappointment this weekend was debut of Alpha from Book of Eli director Albert Hughes. While well regarded among critics (84 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), the survival movie was relatively ignored by moviegoers, earning $10.2 million, and those that did see it liked it only modestly (a B+ Cinemascore). With a reported cost in the high $50 million range, Alpha is going to have a hard time breaking even without a lot of help from international audiences.
Holdovers held the bottom four spots in the top ten. BlacKKKlansman continues to do well for Spike Lee, earning $6.8 million to bring its 10-day total to $22 million for a film that only cost $15 million to produce. In its second weekend, Slender Man continued to trail off, earning $4.3 million to bring its overall totals to $20 million. Hotel Transylvania 3 is hanging in there, earning $3.6 million in its eight week to push it over $150 million. Finally, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again clings to the top ten for one more weekend, racking up $3.4 million and reaching $111 million. It will fall well short of the $144 million earned by its predecessor.
One other item of note: Kevin Spacey’s Billionaire Boys Club, released in only 10 theaters a month after it debuted on VOD, managed only a measly $126 on its opening Friday. In fact, in two of those theaters, only one moviegoer purchased a ticket on Friday.
Expect Crazy Rich Asians and The Meg to battle out again for the top spot next weekend, as the late summer competition cools down significantly. There’s only two wide releases next weekend, and while The Happytime Murders might offer some competition, don’t expect the same from the robot-dog adventure A.X.L..
(Via Box Office Mojo & Deadline)
