'Night School' Is Head of the Box Office Class With $28 Million Opening

A $28 million opening weekend may not seem like a big achievement at the box office, but for a comedy like Universal’s “Night School,” it’s definitely a win. At a time when only a precious few comedies have found success at the box office, “Night School” has posted the best opening for the genre this year, beating the $20.6 million start for fellow Universal release “Blockers.”

Released on 3,091 screens, the Kevin Hart/Tiffany Haddish film is only a few paces behind the $31 million opening for “Girls Trip,” the previous collaboration between Haddish, director Malcolm D. Lee and producer Will Packer. With a budget of $29 million and a CinemaScore grade of A-, the film is in position to turn a solid profit. Next week it will face steep competition in the form of Sony’s Marvel film “Venom” and Warner Bros.’ awards contender “A Star Is Born.”

Also Read: How 'Fahrenheit 11/9' Stacks Up on Michael Moore's Box Office Record

Warner Bros.’ animated film “Smallfoot” was in second this weekend, meeting tracker expectations by opening to $23 million from 4,131 locations. This is a slightly higher start than the two previous September releases from Warner Animation Group, “Storks” ($21.3 million) and “The Lego Ninjago Movie” ($20.4 million).

In third is Universal’s “The House With a Clock in Its Walls,” earning $12.5 million in its second weekend for a decent drop-off of 53 percent and a 10-day total of $44.7 million. Lionsgate’s “A Simple Favor” is in fourth with $6.5 million in its third weekend, pushing its domestic total to $43 million.

Also Read: 'Venom' Poised to Set October Opening Weekend Record With $63 Million

Two horror films are in a narrow race for the last spot in the top five: WB/New Line’s “The Nun” and Lionsgate/CBS Films’ “Hell Fest.” “The Nun” is in the lead with $5.4 million, pushing its total to $109 million after four weekends.

“Hell Fest,” which opens this weekend, has hit the lower end of tracker projections with $5 million, though it has not been received well, with a 33 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and a C on CinemaScore. With the highly anticipated return of Michael Myers and “Halloween” next month, it’s not likely that “Hell Fest” will have much of a footprint this Halloween season, but the studios have already made their money back with a $5.5 million co-financed budget.

'A Star Is Born' vs 'Venom' and 5 More of Fall's 6 Biggest Box Office Showdowns (Photos)

“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” “Aquaman” and “Mary Poppins Returns” are expected to dominate the box office this fall. But there are other films vying for moviegoers' attention -- ones that are set to debut to some steep competition. Here are six head-to-head box office showdowns to look out for this fall.
MGM/Disney/Paramount/Twentieth Century Fox
Oct. 5: "A Star Is Born" vs. "Venom"

Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga facing off against a superhero entry is going to be an interesting battle -- while the former is an indie with A-list stars atop the bill, the latter is a highly-anticipated comic book character debut from a major studio.
MGM/Sony
Oct. 12: "First Man" vs. "Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween"

Everyone is anticipating Damien Chazelle’s followup to “La La Land,” especially now that film that puts Ryan Gosling in space is generating early buzz. “Goosebumps,” of course, is already an established franchise based on the children’s book series of the same name by R.L. Stine. The first film, which was released in 2015, had a $23 million opening.
DreamWorks/Columbia Pictures Corporation
Nov. 2: "Bohemian Rhapsody" vs. "Nobody’s Fool" vs. "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms"

“Bohemian Rhapsody” is quickly shaping up to be many people’s most anticipated fall movie, as it chronicles the life of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury (played by Rami Malek). The film hit some road bumps when Sacha Baron Cohen, originally cast as Mercury, exited the project. Director Joss Whedon also departed the rocker biopic. Now, it's set to face off against Disney’s big-budget film “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” along with Tyler Perry’s “Nobody’s Fool.”
New Regency/Paramount Players/Disney
Nov. 9: "Overlord" vs. "The Girl in the Spider’s Web" vs. "The Grinch"

“The Girl in the Spider’s Web” is a long-awaited sequel to “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” which starred Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. That one grossed $232 million at the global box office. Claire Foy is taking over seven years later. But fans love their “Grinch” (2000's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" earned $345.1 million worldwide) and J.J. Abrams has established a “Cloverfield” fandom as well (although he has said “Overlord” is not part of the “Cloverfield” franchise). "Cloverfield" and "10 Cloverfield Lane" earned $170.8 million and $110.2 million worldwide, respectively.
Paramount/Universal/MGM
Nov. 22: "Creed II" vs. "Ralph Breaks the Internet"

"Creed" came out punching at the box office in 2015, earning $173 million worldwide. So, naturally, the sequel could prove a worthy adversary for "Ralph Breaks the Internet." Its predecessor, "Wreck-It Ralph" grossed $471 million globally, and was nominated for an Oscar.
MGM/Disney
Dec. 21: "Aquaman" vs. "Bumblebee" vs. "Alita: Battle Angel"

“Aquaman” has the backing of extremely devout DC fans, but “Bumblebee” will attract “Transformers” fans, who have brought the whole franchise up to $1.4 billion domestically. Both films are set to make some serious cash. “Alita: Battle Angel” is based on Yukito’s Kishiro’s manga “Battle Angel Alita,” is produced by James Cameron, and has a stellar cast.
Warner Bros./Paramount/Twentieth Century Fox

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Fall Movie Preview 2018: These 15 films have a tough battle to box office glory

“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” “Aquaman” and “Mary Poppins Returns” are expected to dominate the box office this fall. But there are other films vying for moviegoers' attention -- ones that are set to debut to some steep competition. Here are six head-to-head box office showdowns to look out for this fall.

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'A Star Is Born' vs 'Venom' and 5 More of Fall's 6 Biggest Box Office Showdowns (Photos)

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