Box Office Report for the Week of August 17

It’s another incredible weekend for Zach Cregger‘s Weapons at the box office, as the movie has now surpassed over $148 million internationally, with this weekend adding $25 million domestically to its global tally. Word of mouth is not stopping the movie from gaining even more momentum, especially because the landscape for the next few weeks will be pretty quiet as the summer movie season comes to an end.

Still, that isn’t stopping studios from releasing some mid-budget fare, including Timo Tjahjanto‘s much-anticipated debut in Hollywood with Nobody 2. The film made over $9.2 million domestically and $14.2 million globally, which isn’t very big, but is still pretty decent, considering how low the film cost. It’s worth noting that the first movie, directed by Ilya Naishuller, became a COVID sleeper hit and found a new life when it was released on VOD rather than in cinemas. Perhaps Tjahjanto’s movie will await the same fate, but time will tell on that front.

It’s also worth mentioning that this weekend, two major Indian films were released on the same day: Lokesh Kanagaraj‘s Coolie, his first collaboration with Tamil superstar Rajinikanth, and the sixth installment in the YRF Spy Universe, War 2, which pits Hrithik Roshan against NTR, who made his Bollywood debut. While the latter had the benefit of having access to IMAX screens around the world, it unfortunately fell short of cracking the top ten, while Kanagaraj’s film was the ultimate winner, making over $2.3 million in 800 venues, without IMAX.

It’s hard to see a future for the YRF Spy Universe, amid reports of a re-evaluation of the franchise before War 2 even had a chance to be released. Still, one more installment is set to hit cinemas later this year, with the female-led Alpha, starring Alia Bhatt, which could reinvigorate interest in a universe that audiences weren’t much clamoring for in the first place. Its fate basically hinges upon the success of the movie, which is heavily teased during War 2‘s post-credits scene. Whether or not it will resonate with audiences will eventually be revealed much sooner than later.

Here is the full list of the top ten films of the weekend:

1. Weapons (Warner Bros.): $25M (-42.5%) – 3,450 theatres
2. Freakier Friday (Disney): $14.5M (-49.2%) – 3,975 theatres
3. Nobody 2 (Universal): $9.2M – 3,260 theatres
4. The Fantastic Four: First Steps (Disney): $8.8M (-44.2%) – 3,355 theatres
5. The Bad Guys 2 (Universal): $7.5M (-29.2%) – 3,380 theatres
6. Superman (Warner Bros.): $5.2M (-33.5%) – 2,655 theatres
7. The Naked Gun (Paramount): $4.8M (-42.1%) – 3,027 theatres
8. Jurassic World Rebirth (Universal): $2.9M (-40.1%) – 2,270 theatres
9. F1 the Movie (Warner Bros/Apple TV+): $2.6M (-8.7%) – 1,172 theatres
10. Coolie (Prathyangira Cinemas): $2.3M – 800 theatres

Source: Comscore