In something of a surprise, Clint Eastwood's Sully came in very strong this weekend, with a $35 million debut, generated by apparent interest in the subject matter, but also probably a combo of Tom Hanks and Clint Eastwood's drawing power, after recent successes for both with films like American Sniper and Captain Phillips. In fact, the opening is the fifth best September opening of all time and WB's biggest ever, as it's typically a slow month at the box office. With an "A" Cinemascope and an audience that was 80% over the age of 35, the legs on this movie could be pretty strong, leading it to well over $100 million and potentially some Oscar attention later this year.
In second place was the Fatal Attraction-esque thriller When the Bough Breaks with $15 million, but that's lower than past films from Screen Gems in September, and it will probably disappear quickly. Don't Breathe fell to third place after Labor Day, coming in with $8 million and bringing its total to $66 million, while Suicide Squad came in fourth, its new domestic total at $307 million, and just a hair shy of $700 million globally. Rounding out the top five was the animated The Wild Life with just $3 million.
Top 5:
- Sully- $35.5 million
- When the Bough Breaks- $15 million
- Don't Breathe- $8.2 million
- Suicide Squad- $5.6 million
- The Wild Life- $3.4 million
Not a lot to say in limited release, as Molly Shannon's Sundance dramedy Other People opened with $38k from 12 screens, and Hell or High Water remains the highest grossing limited release film of the year, with $19 million so far. Next weekend it's Bridget Jones's Baby versus Blair Witch, the sequel to 1999's The Blair Witch Project, so we're going to see once again if there's audience interest for franchises that began a decade and half ago. See you then.
