Night School is at the top of the class, opening to $28 million domestically
Universal Pictures‘ new comedy Night School opened as the #1 movie in America this weekend, bringing in an estimated $28 million domestically and another $5.5 million from 19 international territories including the U.K. & Ireland, making its worldwide total $33.5 million for the weekend. The film’s opening is a slightly lower than average take for Hart’s career, below the likes of Ride Along ($41.5 million), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ($36 million), Central Intelligence ($35 million), and others; while still above the openings for About Last Night ($25.6 million) and The Wedding Ringer ($20.6 million). Directed by Malcolm D. Lee, Night School also stars Tiffany Haddish, Taran Killam, Rob Riggle, Romany Malco, and Ben Schwartz.
Warner Bros. upcoming animated adventure Smallfoot opened in second place, bringing in $23 million domestically, the third highest opening for the Warner Animation Group (beating out 2016’s Storks, while staying behind The LEGO Batman Movie and The LEGO Movie). Internationally the film opened with $15.6 million giving it a global debut of $38.6 million. Smallfoot boasts an impressive voice cast, including Channing Tatum, James Corden, Zendaya, Common, LeBron James, Gina Rodriguez, Danny DeVito, Yara Shahidi, Ely Henry, and Jimmy Tatro.
Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment’s The House with a Clock in its Walls fell from first to third place in its second weekend, dipping to $12.5 million for a domestic total of $44.7 million, the film is within spitting distance of becoming Eli Roth’s highest grossing movie (currently 2006’s Hostel at $47.3 million [$66.9 million when adjusted for inflation]). The adaptation has now brought in $53.8 million worldwide. Based on the beloved children’s classic written by John Bellairs and illustrated by Edward Gorey, The House with a Clock in Its Walls is directed by Eli Roth and stars Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Owen Vaccaro, Kyle MacLachlan, Colleen Camp, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Vanessa Anne Williams and Sunny Suljic.
Lionsgate’s A Simple Favor moved from second place to fourth palce at the domestic box office, adding another $6.6 million to its total for a domestic haul of $43 million. Considering the film’s reported budget of $20 million, the dark comedy-thriller is a certified hit for the studio despite being one of Paul Feig’s lowest earning features. Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively lead the Paul Feig directed movie which also stars Andrew Rannells, Linda Cardellini, Jean Smart, and Rupert Friend.
Warner Bros. Pictures‘ The Nun fell to fifth place, bringing in another $5.43 million. The Conjuring spin-off now sits at $109 million domestically bust has crossed the $300 million mark worldwide for a total of $330 million. The Nun is now the highest grossing entry in The Conjuring franchise, beating out The Conjuring 2 by over $10 million and counting. Directed by Corin Hardy, the film stars Demian Bichir, Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Charlotte Hope, Ingrid Bisu, and Bonnie Aarons, reprising her Conjuring 2 role as the title character.
Finally, CBS Films and Lionsgate‘s Hell Fest opened in sixth place to the tune of $5.075 million. The throwback slasher movie debuted to a ‘C’ Cinemascore. Directed by Gregory Plotkin and produced by Gale Anne Hurd, the film stars Amy Forsyth, Reign Edwards, Bex Taylor-Klaus and Tony Todd.
