Weekend Box Office - Labor Day Edition - EQUALIZER Returns Big

[AndyDursin]

Nice big opening for Denzel -- 2nd highest Labor Day opener -- as adults wanting to see something look to have wandered out this weekend.

1.) Equalizer 3 (Sony) Fri $13.1M 3-day $35.5M-$36.5M, 4-day $42M-$43.5M/Wk 1

2.) Barbie (WB) 3,586 (-150) theaters, Fri $2.5M (-38 %) 3-day $10M (-34%) 4-day $13M/Total $611.8M/Wk 7

3.) Blue Beetle 3,316 (-555) theaters, Fri $1.52M (-42%), 3-day $7M (-42%), 4-day $9M/Total $58.3M/Wk 3

4.) Gran Turismo (Sony) 3,856 theaters, Fri $1.56M (-82%) 3-day $6.55M 4-day $8.5M, total $30.6M/Total Wk 2

5.) Oppenheimer (Uni) 2,543 (-329) theaters Fri $1.3M (-42%) 3-day $5.38M (-35%) 4-day $7M/Total $310M/Wk 7

6.) Teenage Mutanta Ninja Turtles…(Par) 2,955 (-190) theaters Fri $1.04M (-32%) 3-day $4.77M (-35%), 4-day $6.3M, Total $107.99M/Wk 5

7.) The Meg 2: The Trench (WB) 2,371 (-561) theaters Fri $600K (-44%) 3-day $3M (-38%) 4-day $4M/Total $79.4M/ Wk 5

8.) Bottoms (MGM) 715 (+705) theaters, Fri $1.27M (+452%), 3-day $3.1M (+582%), 4-day $3.78M, Total $4.5M/Wk 2

9.) Strays (Uni) 2,486 (-746) theaters, Fri $610K (-47%) 3-day $2.44M (-51%), 4-day $3.1M Total $21.3M/ Wk 3

10.) Talk to Me (A24) 1,075 (-246) theaters Fri $449K (-26%) 3-day $1.6M (-26%) 4-day $1.95M Total $44.2M/Wk 6

[Monterey Jack]

I sat through a pretty packed matinee screening for Equalizer 3 yesterday. Good movie, sort of relaxing. Beautiful Italian settings, and Denzel remains compelling, even if Dakota Fanning is wholly unconvincing as a "hard-boiled" federal agent. None of the Equalizer movies have been "great", per se, but they're a pleasant throwback to the days when a moderately budgeted action/thriller could yield a solid return and kick off a modesty successful franchise where each movie is almost completely self-contained, instead of requiring you to have watched three previous movies and two steaming shows to understand what's going on.

Also seeing Blue Beetle not even cracking $60 million after TWO weeks in release is proof that the bloom is off the rose when it comes to superhero movies, and Talk To Me pulling in $44 million proves that well-reviewed low-budget horror is almost always a sure draw.