'Dunkirk' Claims Box Office Victory With $50.5 Million Opening

Riding strong word of mouth and rave reviews, Warner Bros.’ “Dunkirk” took the top spot at the box office this weekend with $50.5 million, blowing by the $30-40 million pre-weekend projections set by independent trackers.

By comparison, director Christopher Nolan’s previous film, “Interstellar,” made $49.5 million over a five-day opening in November 2014, and went on to nearly post a 4x multiple with a $188 million domestic total. IMAX, which supplied the cameras for the project, played a major factor in pushing the film past projection windows. On 402 IMAX screens, “Dunkirk” made $11.7 million for a per screen average of $29,129 and 23 percent of the film’s opening haul. CinemaScore demographics were 60 percent male and 40 percent female, with 76 percent of audiences above the age of 25. “Dunkirk” was received well by all demos, with an A- on CinemaScore and a 92 percent “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

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That’s not the only good news for WB. On Saturday, “Wonder Woman” became the highest grossing film of the summer, passing “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” with $389 million after an estimated eighth weekend total of $4.6 million. Globally, the film has a tally of $779.4 million, with Japan still to get a release.

In second place this weekend is Universal’s “Girls’ Trip,” which served as very successful counter-programming with a $30.4 million opening, the highest for director Malcolm D. Lee. While other adult comedies like “Baywatch” and “Rough Night” have struggled to find traction, “Girls Trip” has earned the highest opening for the genre in 2017. In fact, its opening is nearly identical to the $30 million Universal earned two years ago from another R-rated comedy, “Trainwreck,” in the exact same release frame.

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“Girls Trip” got heavy social media promotion from its leading ladies, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Regina Hall and Tiffany Haddish, and female audiences responded in droves. Demographic breakdowns showed 79 percent female and 21 percent male, with 59 percent African-American, 19 percent Caucasian and 17 percent Hispanic. Combined, they gave the film the coveted A+ CinemaScore, while critics were just as effusive in their praise with an 89 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Sitting on the other end of the spectrum is STX/EuropaCorp’s “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets,” which only made $17 million in its opening weekend for a fifth place finish. STX is distributing the film domestically through its deal with EuropaCorp — which is owned by “Valerian” writer-director Luc Besson — but did not factor into its $180 million budget. Like Besson’s most famous film, “The Fifth Element,” “Valerian” will require overseas markets to carry the load. Among audiences who did see the film, it only received a B- on CinemaScore, on top of a 55 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.

Between “Girls Trip” and “Valerian” were “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “War for the Planet of the Apes.” Spidey took third this weekend with a third frame of $22 million, pushing its domestic tally to $251 million. “War for the Planet of the Apes,” meanwhile, took a hard hit in its second weekend, falling 64 percent from its $57.5 million opening to $20.4 million for a ten-day total of $97.8 million. That’s a 30 percent drop from the $139.2 million ten-day total made by the film’s 2014 predecessor, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.”

All 10 Christopher Nolan Movies Ranked, From 'Memento' to 'Dunkirk' (Photos)

Director Christopher Nolan has become well-known for blasting audiences’ brains with mind-bending, over-the-top spectacles. Ahead of his next film "Tenet" and in honor of the director's 50th birthday, here's TheWrap's definitive ranked list of his movies.
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10. "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012)

That you can’t understand a damn thing Bane says is the least of this movie’s problems. It’s heavy social politics and bleak ideologies of hope in the modern day are a drag for a superhero movie, and Nolan’s twists and parables strain credulity.
Warner Bros.
9. "Interstellar" (2014)

On the trajectory of Nolan movies getting more and more bogged down in their complications, “Interstellar” is probably the pinnacle. It has its poignant moments — Matthew McConaughey’s despair-wracked sobs are pretty unforgettable — but gets lost in time travel, temporal displacement, global warming, interpersonal drama and a weird sometimes-documentary style. None of the ideas gets the right amount of attention and the whole thing is a bit of a mess.
Paramount
8. "Insomnia" (2002)

It's really the performances that make this remake of a Norwegian film work. Robin Williams delivers some of the best dramatic work of his career as the primary suspect in the murder of a teenage girl in an Alaska town. It’s more of a mid-budget stepping stone ahead of "Batman Begins," but Al Pacino slowly losing his grip on reality ratchets up the tension.
Warner Bros.
7. "Following" (1998)

Many have labeled “Following” as just a student film. It’s better than that. Nolan's debut feature features his penchant for rules and brisk pacing. The story concerns a man who follows people around and becomes protege of a petty house thief (who shares a name with an "Inception" character, Cobb). And this Cobb has philosophies about creating chaos that are a dry run for The Joker’s craving to watch the world burn.
Zeitgeist Films
6. "Inception" (2010)

This is Nolan’s “Vertigo,” a movie that combines everything that has defined his career into one ambitious opus. He takes the world of dreams and applies his signature rules and rigid structure into a bombastic, mind-bending thriller that's sometimes awe-inspiring and sometimes maddeningly exhausting with its exposition.
Warner Bros.
5. "Batman Begins" (2005)

Nolan reinvigorated the onscreen character of Batman with a more intimate look at Bruce Wayne’s origins. The more serious take on the hero. Thanks to Nolan’s focus on a man figuring out how to be a symbol rather than just punching bad guys, he helped make “Batman Begins” a template for superhero movies hoping to be more realistic and less cartoonish. And having Liam Neeson in your movie doesn't hurt.
Warner Bros.
4. "Memento" (2000)

The movie that first really started to tip people off to Nolan is a noir-esque mystery told in reverse, with Guy Pearce's detective unable to form new short-term memories. The movie’s construction keeps the audience as confused as protagonist Leonard, but once it all comes together, the frightening story of how people manipulate each other, and themselves, blows minds in the best way.
Newmarket Films
3. "The Prestige" (2006)

Michael Caine’s three rules in “The Prestige” could also define Nolan’s filmmaking. Above all, Nolan is a showman who stages something elaborate and magical and then wants to show you how it’s done. Fittingly, “The Prestige” is Nolan’s most twist-filled and rewatchable film.
Warner Bros.
2. "The Dark Knight" (2008)

It’s bolstered by Heath Ledger’s otherworldly, swan song of a performance, but “The Dark Knight” redefined grizzly, post-9/11 neo-noir. Its twists, moral choices and provocative themes on heroism upped the games for superhero movies and blockbusters for all time.
Warner Bros.
1. "Dunkirk" (2017)

Nolan’s sprawling WWII epic is quite possibly his simplest movie. Despite its enormous scale and running three tales in parallel with some non-linear storytelling, the minimal use of dialogue and powerful performances makes “Dunkirk” incredibly tense and human. It's a different kind of war movie -- and Nolan accomplishes a lot by holding back (some) of his usual complexity.
Warner Bros.

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”Tenet“ director turns 50 today

Director Christopher Nolan has become well-known for blasting audiences’ brains with mind-bending, over-the-top spectacles. Ahead of his next film "Tenet" and in honor of the director's 50th birthday, here's TheWrap's definitive ranked list of his movies.

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All 10 Christopher Nolan Movies Ranked, From 'Memento' to 'Dunkirk' (Photos)

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