Lionsgate/Millennium’s “Angel Has Fallen” has joined “Good Boys” and “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” in the recent series of August films that have earned modest but better-than-expected opening weekends. The third film in Gerard Butler’s “Fallen” series has earned $21.2 million from 3,286 screens, nearly matching the $21.6 million opening earned by “London Has Fallen” in March 2016.
Like “London Has Fallen,” “Angel” was a dud with critics and a hit with audiences, earning a 39% Rotten Tomatoes score and an A- in CinemaScore audience polls. Moviegoer demographics showed a near 50/50 split on gender but skewed older with 58% above the age of 30.
“Angel Has Fallen” was also made on a cheaper budget than the $60 million “London” with a reported budget of $40 million after tax incentives. The threequel will now try to match the $62.5 million domestic total and $205 million global total earned by its predecessor.
Taking second is Universal’s “Hobbs & Shaw,” which is holding on well with $11.7 million in its second weekend to hold its weekend-to-weekend drop below 50%. The comedy now has a 10-day total of $41 million.
In third is one of the other newcomers this weekend, Sony/Affirm’s “Overcomer.” Released on 1,723 screens, the inspirational sports film earned $8.2 million against a $5 million budget. It has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 38% but earned an A+ on CinemaScore, consistent with the faith-based genre.
Also new this weekend is Fox Searchlight’s horror satire “Ready Or Not,” which earned $7.6 million this weekend after opening on Wednesday, giving it a 5-day opening of $10.6 million. The film’s dark humor won over critics with an 87% Rotten Tomatoes score and also performed well with audiences with a B+ on CinemaScore.
The two big blockbuster holdovers, “The Lion King” and “Hobbs & Shaw,” both passed major box office milestones as they both earned $8.1 million this weekend. “Hobbs & Shaw” had its opening in China this weekend, earning an August record $102 million from the lucrative market to pass $500 million in global grosses. The “Fast & Furious” spinoff now has $588 million worldwide and $147 million domestic.
“The Lion King” has passed $1.5 billion globally, becoming the ninth film ever to gross $1 billion internationally while passing the domestic run of “Beauty and the Beast” with $511 million domestic. This week, the remake will pass “Furious 7” and “The Avengers” to become the seventh highest grossing film of all time.