‘Hustlers’ Tops Box Office With Record $13 Million Friday, But ‘The Goldfinch’ Bombs - Forbes

Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Keke Palmer and Lili Reinhart in 'Hustlers'

STX Entertainment

Hustlers (review) scored the biggest single day gross in STX Entertainment’s (relatively) short history. Writer/director Lorene Scafaria’s “inspired by a true story” crime dramedy, about a group of exotic dancers who scammed their club’s wealthy/entitled male clientele after the 2008 Wall Street crash, earned $13.1 million on Friday. That includes $2.5 million in Thursday previews. The Thursday gross accounted for just 19% of its “opening day” gross, which means that (for now) it’s playing closer to Girls Trip (an $11.7 million Friday from a $1.7 million Thursday gross) than Bad Moms ($9.6 million Friday after a $2 million Thursday preview gross).

The film has earned mostly positive reviews, with a fair share of coverage calling it Jennifer Lopez’s comeback (it’s the best material she’s had in ages) and a possible Oscar contender in the Best Supporting Actress (and more) category. If it legs out like Girls Trip over the weekend (a $31.2 million opening weekend after an $11.7 million Friday), we’re looking at a $35 million opening weekend. If it (comparatively) frontloads like Bad Moms ($23.8 million from a $9.6 million Friday), then it’ll still earn $32 million by Sunday night. Either result would be spectacular for a $20 million, R-rated comedy/drama.

It’ll almost certainly be STX Entertainment’s biggest opener ever, ahead of the $23.8 million opening for Bad Moms in July of 2016. Anything over $23.1 million (Monster-In-Law in 2005) makes it Lopez’s biggest unadjusted live-action opening. It should end up just over/under the $29 million-to-$33 million inflation-adjusted opening weekends of Made in Manhattan, Monster-In-Law, The Cell and Anaconda. Hustlers will score a bigger Fri-Sun debut than Constance Wu’s Crazy Rich Asians ($26 million), with a Fri-Sun cume possible larger than the rom-com’s $33 million five-day launch. That B- Cinemascore grade concerns me, but most of the folks I’ve talked to (including my parents) quite liked it.

Like Bad Moms, Girls Trip and Ocean’s 8, Hustlers was/is a splashy studio programmer aimed at adult women and sold as unqualified “party” movies/escapist entertainment for under-served demographics. That’s not to say the films lacked conflict or drama, but the marketing was more about how its characters either just threw caution to the wind and engaged in over-the-top escapades or effortlessly triumphed over the patriarchal systems that caused them misery. It’s a fundamental difference compared to the likes of Rough Night or Snatched, which presented scenarios where women trying to have fun or get away from it all ended up in grave danger or continuous peril.

Jennifer Lopez has been a reliable draw when Hollywood bothers to give her a vehicle that audience want to see, while the rest (Constance Wu, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Cardi B. and Lizzo) made for an appealing package deal. Each of them is at least somewhat well known for a different project, be it a TV show or a music career. They are all media-friendly entertainers and were available to sell the hell out of the movie to their social media followers. I’d be surprised if the film wasn’t about as popular with paying consumers as it has been with critics.

'The Goldfinch'

Warner Bros.

The only other wide newbie opening yesterday was The Goldfinch (review). Suffering from mostly negative reviews out of Toronto and existing in a profoundly challenging theatrical environment for dramas, director John Crowley and screenwriter Peter Straughan’s adaptation of Donna Tartt’s acclaimed epic novel played to mostly empty theaters yesterday. The $45 million-budgeted, R-rated, 2.5-hour character study/melodrama is picture-perfect example of the kind of movie that just can’t survive in a VOD/streaming-centric era, so kudos I suppose to Warner Bros. and Amazon Studios (which picked up a large chunk of the budget in exchange for post-theatrical streaming rights) for making it happen anyway.

Cue an $870,000 Friday and a likely $2.52 million opening weekend, which will be one of the worst debuts ever for a 2,000-plus screen release. The Goldfinch concerns a young man whose mother dies in a museum bombing and how that shapes his life into adulthood. The film lacked star power, as its cast was filled with known actors (Ansel Elgort, Oakes Fegley, Nicole Kidman, Finn Wolfhard, Sarah Paulson, Luke Wilson, Jeffrey Wright) who weren’t butts-in-the-seats draws. This is WB’s third straight studio programmer flop in the last month, alongside The Kitchen ($15 million on a $38 million budget) and Blinded By the Light ($11 million/$15 million).

All three deserved better. We’ll see if Edward Norton’s Motherless Brooklyn, Bill Condon’s con artist thriller The Good Liar (starring Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen) and the Michael B. Jordan/Brie Larson/Jamie Foxx legal melodrama Just Mercy can do better. The odds are not in their favor. Warner Bros.’ late 2019 slate will be “saved” by two R-rated movies about killer clowns, namely It Chapter Two and Todd Phillips’ $55 million, R-rated character study about a mentally ill man who descends into violence and madness. Joker would otherwise be a profoundly uncommercial movie save for the fact that it’s based on a world-famous comic book villain. Go figure.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2019/09/14/friday-box-office-hustlers-13m-jennifer-lopez-constance-wu-keke-palmer-lili-reinhart-cardi-b-lizzo-stx-goldfinch-nicole-kidman/

2019-09-14 14:25:43Z

Bagikan Berita Ini