Kingsmen: The Golden Circle Tops in Theaters
R-rated titles made up eight of the top 10 films last weekend (Sept. 22-24), as 20th Century Fox’s action sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle ran circles around the competition with a $39.02 million debut.
Credit the mostly R-rated top 10 to a combination of more adult-oriented releases in September following the teenager- and family-targeted summer season, plus a recent trend of R-rated blockbusters including Deadpool, American Sniper, Get Out and Logan.
Kingsmen: The Golden Circle opened 7 percent higher than the debut of the original Kingsman: The Secret Service in September 2015, although when adjusted for inflation the two films were basically even. Given the typically more front-loaded nature of sequels, it is uncertain whether the current installment will be able to match or beat the original’s $128.2 million total. One encouraging sign is that the film may repeat on top again next weekend, as the top new competitor American Made is expected to open around $16 million — a figure Kingsman could beat if its drop stays below 60 percent.
Warner Bros. Pictures’ horror adaptation It, which led the previous two weekends, became the highest-grossing R-rated horror movie ever (unadjusted for inflation) and took second place with $29.76 million. The film’s 50.5 percent drop is about even with the previous weekend’s 51 percent drop. It is holding decently for a horror movie, which usually experiences among the steepest post-opening drops of any genre. With $266.10 million total earnings to date, it seems a lock to earn at least $300 million if not $350 million — something no horror movie has done for many years.
Warner Bros.’ animated The Lego Ninjago Movie came in far below its two predecessors with $20.43 million in third place. The third Lego movie, this installment came in far behind the $69.0 million opening of The Lego Movie or the $53.0 million debut of The Lego Batman Movie. That is probably because the Ninjago brand of toys is far less famous than Legos in general or the Batman character. Plus, word of mouth came in below its predecessors.
Entertainment Studios’ Friend Request debuted in seventh place with $2.00 million, but that number comes alongside a negative headline the movie surely didn’t want. The digital-themed horror thriller became the lowest opener of all time for a film playing in at least 2,500 theaters. The previous low was set by 2015’s Young Frankenstein, which opened with $2.46 million.
The top 10 films last weekend earned $107.92 million last weekend, 6.3 percent above the previous weekend’s $101.56 million. It is 1.6 percent ahead of the same weekend last year, when The Magnificent Seven led with $34.70 million.
This Week | Last Week | Movie | Weekend Gross | Cumulative Gross | Weeks |
1 | — | Kingsman: The Golden Circle | $39.02M | $39.02M | 1 |
2 | 1 | It (2017) | $29.76M | $266.10M | 3 |
3 | — | The Lego Ninjago Movie | $20.43M | $20.43M | 1 |
4 | 2 | American Assassin | $6.26M | $26.19M | 2 |
5 | 3 | Mother! | $3.29M | $13.46M | 2 |
6 | 4 | Home Again | $3.23M | $22.27M | 3 |
7 | — | Friend Request | $2.00M | $2.00M | 1 |
8 | 5 | The Hitman’s Bodyguard | $1.61M | $73.36M | 6 |
9 | 6 | Wind River | $1.28M | $31.65M | 8 |
10 | 9 | Spider-Man: Homecoming | $1.06M | $331.86M | 12 |
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.