As the summer movie season comes to a close, audiences are turning out for one last good scare before it’s time to go back to school. Evil Dead director Fede Alvarez’s low-budget horror home invasion thriller Don’t Breathe easily won the box office on Friday with $10 million, which puts it on track for an impressive weekend haul in the range of $22 million (or more). The film cost just under $10 million to make, as Alvarez opted to craft an original and far less bloody horror pic for his follow-up to the much-anticipated Evil Dead remake. Reviews have been fairly strong, and audiences (mostly) seem to have agreed with a B+ Cinemascore.
The film’s other new releases, however, didn't fare as well. In limited release, the Weinstein Company boxing drama Hands of Stone looks to be a bust. The Edgar Ramirez and Robert De Niro-fronted pic bowed at Cannes earlier this year, but looks to earn only $2 million to $3 million for the weekend. The “Barack and Michelle Obama’s First Date” indie Southside with You, however, looks to score around $3 million this weekend, which is a solid gross for a film of this size. And finally, the sequel Mechanic: Resurrection, opening on far more screens, earned $2.6 million on Friday for a weekend total in the range of $6 million to $7 million.
Don’t Breathe looks on track to win the weekend swimmingly, which will finally dethrone Suicide Squad as the DC film has secured the #1 spot the past three weekends in a row. The superhero pic is likely to fall to #2 with a Friday total around $3.2 million, bringing its domestic total to $274 million thus far.
Check out the Top 5 below and check back tomorrow for a full rundown of the weekend estimates.
Rank |
Title |
Friday |
Total |
1. |
Don’t Breathe |
$10,015,000 |
$10,015,000 |
2. |
Suicide Squad |
$3,260,000 |
$274,032,067 |
3. |
Mechanic: Resurrection |
$2,620,000 |
$2,620,000 |
4. |
Sausage Party |
$2,265,000 |
$74,608,510 |
5. |
War Dogs |
$2,005,000 |
$22,507,687 |