It: Chapter Two Beats Hustlers for No. 1

Warner Bros. Pictures/New Line Cinema’s It: Chapter Two may have won at the box office last weekend (Sept. 13-15) with $39.61 million in its second week, but the real story was the crime drama Hustlers, which outperformed with a spectacular $33.18 million. It is both the biggest opening of star Jennifer Lopez’s career – her previous top debut was 2005’s Monster-in-Law with $23.1 million — and a record debut for distributor STX Films, far surpassing its previous top performer Bad Moms, which opened with $23.8 million. The weekend’s other new wide release, Warner Bros.’ The Goldfinch, wasn’t as lucky.

It: Chapter 2 finished in first place for the second straight week with $39.61 million. (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures)

 
Finishing in first place again, It: Chapter Two fell 56.5% from its strong $91.06 million debut the previous weekend. That is a slightly sharper drop than its predecessor, which fell 51% in its second weekend with $60.1 million. The horror sequel now has $153.80 million domestically after 10 days, 30% behind the first installment, which had taken in $218.8 million at the same point.

Not far behind in second place was Hustlers, which rode a wave of great reviews and buzz out of the Toronto Film Festival to a breakout performance. Critics loved the film and moviegoers seem to have been more or less enjoying it as well, giving it good marks.

Hustlers debuted in second with $33.18 million. (Photo: STX Films)

 
In addition to strong critical reviews, the film is full of stars and very of-the-moment women including pop stars Cardi B and Lizzo as well as Crazy Rich Asians star Constance Wu, helping propel the film with a diverse audience. Its opening weekend audience was 67% women, 26% African American and 27% Hispanic. With a modest $20 million budget, the STX release, which is based on a New York Magazine article, is well on its way to profitability and has potential to play well through the rest of the fall — particularly with awards buzz already swirling around Lopez. The studio’s press release touting the film’s opening weekend numbers noted that the cast has a combined 318 million social media followers, who helped generate excitement for the film.

In third place, the action threequel Angel Has Fallen dipped just 17.5% to $4.94 million, bringing the domestic total for the Lionsgate Films release to $60.47 million through its fourth weekend. The Gerard Butler movie continues to outpace its predecessor London Has Fallen, which had earned $55.7 million at the same point.

Fourth place went to the comedy Good Boys, which slipped just 23.0% in its fifth weekend to $4.22 million. The Universal Pictres release now has earned $73.28 million in North America, making it one of the highest-grossing comedies of the year to date.

Walt Disney Studios’ The Lion King slid 15.5% to finish in fifth place with $3.65 million, giving the remake a domestic gross of $534.09 million. It is the 12th highest-grossing release of all time in North America, having surpassed Rogue One: A Star Wars Story with $532.1 million over the weekend.

Universal’s Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw took in $2.79 million in sixth place, down 26.7%, bringing its domestic total to $168.34 million through the end of its seventh weekend. Sony Pictures/Affirm’s Overcomer slid 26.4% to finish in seventh place with $2.68 million, bringing the faith-based drama’s North American total to $28.98 million through four weekends.

The Goldfinch debuted in a disappointing eighth place with just $2.68 million. (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures)

 
Debuting in a disappointing eighth place was Warner Bros.’ The Goldfinch with just $2.68 million from 2,542 theaters. The adaptation of Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which debuted at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, go bad critical reviews. The debut came in far below expectations, including the studio, which had projected an opening in the high single to low double digits going into the weekend.

Roadside Attraction’s The Peanut Butter Falcon added 180 screens, but still dipped 13.6% to finish in ninth place with $1.84 million in its sixth weekend, bringing the comedy’s domestic total to $14.97 million. Rounding out the Top 10 was Paramount Pictures’ Dora and the Lost City of Gold with $1.83 million, a drop of 15.7%, bringing its North American total to $56.73 million through six weekends.

This coming weekend will see the debut of 20th Century Fox’s Ad Astra, Lionsgate’s Rambo: Last Blood and Focus Features’ Downton Abbey.

The top 10 films grossed $97.47 million. That is 21.0% behind the previous weekend’s $123.50 million total. However, it is 3.7% ahead of last year’s $94.00 million, when The Predator led with $24.63 million. Total box office year-to-date stands at $8.12 billion. That is 6.0% behind last year.

Sept. 13-15, 2019

Mark Heckathorn

Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.