With no “Suicide Squad” or “Guardians of the Galaxy” to give the summer box office season a late boost, an opening of less than $20 million could be enough to win the first weekend of August, as Columbia/MRC’s “The Dark Tower” is currently estimated to make $18.8 million from 3,450 screens.
The adaptation of Stephen King’s lore-heavy fantasy novel series tried to win over both newcomers and hardcore fans, but critical and audience response hasn’t been great with scores of 18 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a B on CinemaScore. With such weak word-of-mouth, it’s possible that Warner Bros.’ “Dunkirk” could pass “The Dark Tower” to take the No. 1 spot for a third straight weekend, something that no film this summer — not even “Wonder Woman” — has been able to do.
The WWII film is currently tracking for a $16-17 million total this weekend, which would push its domestic total to $133 million.
In third is Columbia’s “The Emoji Movie,” which estimates have making $13 million in its second weekend to keep the drop-off from its $25 million opening to under 50 percent. Universal’s “Girls Trip” is still in the top five for a third weekend with an estimated $11 million, bringing the domestic total for the mid-budget comedy to $85 million.
Completing the top five is Halle Berry’s thriller “Kidnap” from newcomer Aviron Pictures, which is performing slightly above tracker projections with an estimated opening of $10 million. “Spider-Man: Homecoming” drops out of the top five in its fifth weekend with an estimated $9 million and passing the $300 million domestic mark this coming week. Focus Features’ “Atomic Blonde” is in seventh with an estimated $8 million in its second weekend, a drop-off of 56 percent from its $18.2 million opening.
Finally, in eighth is Annapurna’s first distribution release, Kathryn Bigelow’s “Detroit,” which is estimated to make $7 million this weekend against a $30 million budget. It’s a disappointing figure, as projections had the film making $10-13 million before the weekend, but the good news for the film is that it’s a hit with adult audiences who did see it. It has the highest CinemaScore grade of any new release this weekend with an A-, along with an 89 percent “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. With its brutal depictions of racism and police violence, “Detroit” was never going to be a movie that appealed to the masses, but it may still find an audience in the coming weeks from older moviegoers looking for a challenging, thought-provoking film, especially if it can gain traction as an awards contender.