Box office: ‘Gran Turismo’ wins weekend over ‘Barbie’ with National Cinema Day bumps all around

A caveat about this week’s box office recap is that Sunday is National Cinema Day with $4 movie tickets, which is having a huge impact on ticket sales. We might not fully know the results until actual box office is reported on Monday. Even so, read on for the weekend box office report.

Sony released Neill Blomkamp‘s racing movie “Gran Turismo,” based on a true story AND a Playstation game, into 3,856 theaters after two weekends of previews and mixed/positive reviews. The movie made $8.5 million on Friday, but that included $1.4 million in Thursday previews and a reported $3.9 million from earlier previews. Sony estimates that the movie opens in first place with $17.3 million, any bump from National Cinema Day negating any frontloading from previews. The good news for “Gran Turismo” is its “A” CinemaScore shows audience buzz that should negate any of the mixed or negative reviews. Being PG-13 can also help it against R-rated fare like the upcoming “The Equalizer 3” and “The Nun 2.”

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“Gran Turismo” has been playing overseas for a few weeks, but it added another $11 million internationally with $2.2 million from Mexico to bring its international total to $36.5 million and $53.8 million including its North American debut.

There’s some added controversy to “Gran Turismo’s” box office win, because so much of its weekend numbers come from advance previews before Thursday night, so certain parties are claiming it stole first place.

Without those added previews, Warner Bros’ “Barbie” would have a fifth weekend at #1 despite being bumped from that spot by “Blue Beetle” last weekend. Warner Bros. estimates “Barbie” to make $17.1 million, down just 19% from last weekend, putting it just $200k behind “Gran Turismo.” It also puts it less than $8 million away from the $600 million milestone, which it should achieve on Monday. With the $18.2 million grossed overseas this weekend, it brings “Barbie’s” global total to $1.34 billion, which puts it ahead of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” to become Warner Bros’ highest-grossing global blockbuster.

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Warner Bros’ superhero movie, “Blue Beetle,” dropped to third place with an estimated $12.8 million (down 49%), again expecting a huge bump on Saturday from National Cinema Day. It has grossed $46.3 million so far, and it has to hope it can retain theaters for Labor Day and capitalize on it being a family-friendlier PG-13 rating. It added another $10 million overseas for a global total of $81.8 million.

Universal is estimating a $9 million weekend (down a mere 16%) for Christopher Nolan‘s “Oppenheimer” with a Sunday bump from National Cinema Day, which would just enough to put the movie over the $300 million mark. It added another $29.1 million overseas, including a $9.2 million debut in Italy. International gross is at $477.2 million with total globally at $777.2 million.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” added another $6.1 million this weekend in 3,145 theaters to take fifth place, down 29% with its North American total reaching $98.1 million, guaranteeing it to hit $100 million this coming week just before summer’s end.

Based on studio estimates, Jason Statham‘s “Meg 2: The Trench” retained sixth place with $5.1 million (down 25%), also getting a projected bump from “National Cinema Day,” with a domestic total of $74 million. “Meg 2” added another $15.2 million overseas, including $2.9 million from a Japan debut, bringing its global total to $352.5 million.

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The R-rated comedy “Strays” took a pretty major plunge from its opening weekend to seventh place, but Universal has estimated it will end up with $4.6 million over the weekend (again, projecting a sizable National Cinema day bump) for a drop of just 44%, as it brings its domestic total to $16.1 million.

The latest Liam Neeson action-thriller, “Retribution,” was released by Roadside Attractions into 1,748 theaters after receiving horrible reviews, and it ended up with an estimated opening weekend of $3.3 million, averaging $1,913 per theater, for eighth place. Audiences –  61% male and 82% over 25 – didn’t think too much more about Neeson’s latest outing, giving it a “C” CinemaScore, guaranteeing it won’t be in the top 10 for very long.

Opening in ninth place, Dennis Quaid starred in the inspirational faith-based sports drama, “The Hill,” released by Briarcliff into 1,570 locations where it grossed an estimated $2.5 million, also opening this weekend with lousy reviews.

A24’s horror film, “Talk to Me,” crossed the $40 million mark and added another $2.1 million to barely hold on Hto the top 10 despite the introduction of three new wide releases. It was a mere $10,000 ahead of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1” to hold that placement. (Disney’s “Haunted Mansion” is also vying for that tenth place spot with roughly the same amount of money.)

Also, Helen Mirren starred as former Israel Prime Minister Golda Meir in “Skin” director Guy Nattiv‘s biodrama “Golda,” which Bleecker Street opened in 883 theaters on Friday with Fathom Events previews on Wednesday. Reviews had been mixed since the movie premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, and the movie only brought in $1.7 million over the weekend,

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Emma Seligman‘s queer high school comedy “Bottoms,” starring Rachel Sennott from Seligman’s earlier indie “Shiva Baby” and Ayo Edebiri from “The Bear,” opened in ten theaters in select cities with terrific reviews going back to its SXSW Film Festival premiere. It brought in an estimated $516,254 this weekend for a fantastic per-theater average of $51,600 per venue. MGM plans to expand the movie nationwide on Friday into 700 theaters nationwide.

The majority of players had “Barbie” beating “Gran Turismo” in this week’s box office prediction game, but the majority also had the #1 movie making $25 to 50 million, neither which came to pass based on estimates. In fact, only 81 players thought “Gran Turismo” might win the weekend, although generally, more players got third through fifth place correct.

Only four players got a perfect score in the Aug. 18 game, but “DanC” scored a major victory with 59,120 points, so congrats to him!

Denzel Washington returns for “The Equalizer 3,” opening on Friday for Labor Day weekend, so check back on Wednesday to read more about that. Also, look for Gold Derby’s monthly preview of the other movies being released this September sometime this coming week.

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