King of the Crop: The Invitation Tops History Low Weekend

Calling this the lowest grossing weekend of the summer is not a headline. When it comes to the weekend before Labor Day, that title could have been written every year from 2006 to 2019, and more. The Invitation leads with $7 million, however, marking the first time August has seen a No. 1 film earn less than $10 million since 1996, when both The Crow: City of Angels and The Island of Dr . Moreau did it backwards- backwards. It’s also the lowest August No. 1 since Honeymoon in Vegas led off 1992’s final weekend with $7.3 million. The top 10 gross of just $41.7M made this the third lowest August weekend since 1990. Only the last two weekends of August in 1992 grossed less ($36.3M & $34.4M). As for the number raised by The Invitation, there is not much to say. The film, which was not screened for critics, sits at 26% on the Tomatometer. The only other wide release this summer to come out with a lower score was May’s new Firestarter adaptation, which has a 10% score. Other horror films opening comparable to The Invitation in the fourth weekend of August include Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark ($8.5 million), Ready or Not ($8 million), Mimic ($7.8 million), You ‘re Next ($7 million), and The Cave ($6.1 million), all finishing between $15-29 million overall. Expect The Invitation to come in at the bottom half of that, but with only a $10 million budget, it won’t be too serious for Sony.

Rotten Returns: Three Thousand Years of Longing Flops

The Top 10 and beyond: Bullet Train Coming in second, Nope Falls Short

Sony managed to take the top two spots at the box office this week with Bullet Train returning to second place with $5.6 million. Does that make it any closer to hitting the $100 million goal that some had pledged for it? Well, technically yes, but not at his current rate. With $78.2 million in the bank, it’s still trending behind 2013’s Elysium , which had $78.3 million after 24 days, earned $6.4 million in its fourth weekend, and ultimately finished with $93 million . Granted, that fourth weekend was the Labor Day holiday (where nearly another $2 million was added that Monday), so Bullet Train could repeat the advantage the following week. And perhaps due to the lack of new titles, the Brad Pitt actor could be limping across that finish line. The film has grossed $160 million worldwide to date. Last week’s big winner, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, dropped to fifth place with just $4.5 million. Neither the fact that it took first place last weekend nor that it fell 78% this weekend should come as no surprise. The other Crunchyroll movies that set the stage for Dragon Ball’s win last week fell between 69-75% in their second weekend. Now at $30.7 million, it’s about $3 million off the pace of last year’s Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train , which had a second weekend of $6.4 million. Super Hero should scratch in the low 40s overall. Last week’s second place winner fell back to third place as Beast didn’t get the word of mouth it was hoping for and earned just $4.9 million, down 58% from the previous week. That’s roughly the pace of the 2016 Ben-Hur remake, and it may end up close to $27 million, which isn’t great for the $36 million budget film. Blockbusters still remain in the top 10, starting once again with Top Gun: Maverick, which won’t stop in its quest for $700 million domestically. It fell just 20% in its 14th weekend to $4.7 million, bringing its total to over $691 million. Don’t be shocked if it secures No. 1 over the Labor Day holiday, joining the likes of ET and Titanic on the list of films that topped the box office in their 15th weekend of release. Minions: The Rise of Gru continues to edge The Secret Life of Pets to become Illumination’s highest-grossing film. But it will become their third grosser of $360+ million. Minions also beat out Thor: Love and Thunder this summer. still ranks as the best domestic Thor film, believed to be $100 million less than what Ragnarok did worldwide. It will still be the 16th Marvel film to gross over $750 million. Rounding things off, Jordan Peele’s Nope dropped out of the top 10 ahead of Where the Crawdads Sing. That said, the $120 million on the horizon for Nope and $81 million for Crawdads are encouraging numbers for non-franchise adult pictures. DC League of Super-Pets’ numbers are in line with the studio’s 1994 release The Client, which finished with $92 million. In other news, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story slotted back into 255 IMAX locations with a sneak peek at the upcoming Disney+ series Andor and took in $1.1 million for a $4,314 average. Breaking Bleecker Street (ex-title 892 at this year’s Sundance) starring John Boyega and the late Michael K. Williams just earned $1 million in 900 theaters for a $1,134 PTA.

On the Vine: Honk for Jesus and Some Re-releases Competing for Labor Day Dollars

The only brand new wide release next week comes from this year’s Sundance. Horn for Jesus. Save Your Soul with Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown as the owners of a disgraced megachurch is currently at 86% on the Tomatometer. Next week’s holiday weekend could actually be one for the biggest movies of all time. We listed Top Gun: Maverick as a No. 1 contender, but it could be challenged by the re-release of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Called “The More Fun Version”, it features 11 minutes of previously unseen footage. Also, the original Summer blockbuster, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, will be released in IMAX 3D, and those ticket prices could push it into the top 10 as well.

Full Box Office Results List: August 26-28, 2022

            26% The Invitation (2022)

$7 million ($7 million total)

            53% Bullet Train (2022)

$5.6 ($78.2 million total)

            69% Beast (2022)

$4.9 million ($20.1 million total)

            96% Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

$4.75 million ($691.2 million total)

            91% Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (2022)

$4.57 million ($30.8 million total)

            73% DC League of Super-Pets (2022)

$4.2 million ($74.1 million total)

            71% Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)

$2.88 million ($2.88 million total)

            71% Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022)

$2.74 million ($354.8 million total)

            65% Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)

$2.7 million ($336.6 million total)

            34% Where the Crawdads Sing (2022)

$2.32 million ($81.89 million total)

Erik Childress is heard weekly reviewing the box office on Business First AM with Angela Miles and the Movie Madness Podcast. [box office figures via Box Office Mojo] Image thumbnail by ©Sony Pictures Entertainment On an Apple device? Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Apple News.