Weekend box office: The Emoji Movie goes to war with Dunkirk

Brad Sturdivant July 30th, 2017

Not all animated movies are destined for greatness and sometimes even kids can sense when they’re being hoodwinked into buying a movie ticket. But the creators of THE EMOJI MOVIE should be pleased with a near $30 million opening at the weekend box office for a movie based on emojis. However, it doesn’t look like it will end up being enough to dethrone DUNKIRK, which looks to have a slight edge. To be fair, they could easily flip-flop as Sunday numbers firm up. The other new release was the Charlize Theron starring ATOMIC BLONDE, which did very well with just over $18 million. To put it in perspective, the first JOHN WICK opened with about $14.5 million, so Theron might have a sequel in her future.

Next week should be an interesting weekend. First up is THE DARK TOWER, which feels like it has been in production for over a decade with several different directors and stars attached. At one point it was going to be an epic mini-series but it ended up being a 95 minute film. I’m not sure if that spells doom for the Stephen King story, but it’s what we ended up with. THE DARK TOWER will compete with DETROIT, from director Kathryn Bigelow. I’ve seen some mixed reviews for DETROIT, but everyone seems to agree that the story is important and it’s told in a very original way. It’s hard to predict who will win next week. I suspect DUNKIRK will lose another 30% or more, which will put it around $20 million and I’m not sure THE DARK TOWER or DETROIT can earn enough to beat it. But I’m putting my money on DETROIT to pull it off and take the top spot. Note: the numbers below will be updated as they become final.

1. Dunkirk $28.2m

2. The Emoji Movie $27.5m

3. Girls Trip $19.2m

4. Atomic Blonde $18.2m

5. Spider-Man: Homecoming $13.4m

6. War For The Planet of The Apes $10m

7. Despicable Me 3 $8m

8. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets $6m

9. Baby Driver $4.5m

10. Wonder Woman $3.8m

(Deadline)