Weekend box office: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again narrowly beats Equalizer 2

Brad Sturdivant July 22nd, 2018

The original MAMMA MIA! was a bit of a box office surprise when it was released in 2008. It opened with about $28 million but went on to gross over $140 million thanks to good word of mouth. But the sequel faced an uphill climb since it’s now ten years later and star Meryl Streep has taken a much smaller role. But after taking the weekend box office, MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN is proving that people show up for Abba, not necessarily the people singing their songs. The Mamma Mia sequel should end up narrowly beating out EQUALIZER 2, which is on pace to bring in just over $30 million. It’s kind of amazing how consistent Denzel Washington is when it comes to always bringing in between $30 million and $40 million on opening weekend. It should be noted that the early box office numbers for MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN are kind of all over the place and won’t be settled until Monday. My guess is that $37 million number will go up when the Sunday numbers become official.

Next week will belong to MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT. The Tom Cruise starring franchise is on its sixth film and if the trailer is any indication, the series is not slowing down any time soon. Early reviews say it’s a blast and I’m guessing it will open somewhere in the $45 million to $55 million range, which will put it on par with the other movies in the franchise. That should be more than enough to topple the holdovers from this weekend. Note: the numbers below will be updated as they become final.

1. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again $37.3m

2. Equalizer 2 $33.7m

3. Hotel Transylvania 3 $22.2m

4. Ant-Man and the Wasp $15.6m

5. Incredibles 2 $11.1m

6. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom $10.7m

7. Skyscraper $10.4m

8. The First Purge $4.6m

9. Unfriended: Dark Web $3.4m

10. Sorry To Bother You $2.7m

(Deadline)