LOS ANGELES (AP) โย โWeaponsโย found its way back on top during the Labor Day weekend, culminating a summer box office that’s likely to fall right below meeting last year’s earnings.
Zach Cregger’s horrorย proved its staying power as aย late-summer viral successย and regained the top spot after last weekend sawย โKpop Demon Huntersโย giveย Netflixย itsย first box-office win. โWeaponsโ generated $10.2 million during its fourth weekend in theaters.
Universalโs 50th rerelease of โJawsโย also made a splash in theaters, securing the second spot.ย Steven Spielbergโs 1975 filmย took โa bite out of the box office,โ said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for the data firm Comscore, earning $8.1 million in 3,200 North American theaters.
โHow appropriate that a movie thatโs celebrating its 50 years, an all-time classic, Jaws, should be as relevant today as it was when it opened,โ Dergarabedian said. โItโs so great because we need every dollar to contribute to the bottom line for this summer.โ
The rerelease helped boost a summer with earnings likely coming in at $3.7 billion, just under last summer. Still, this year will miss the typical pre-pandemic summer box office benchmark of $4 billion, Dergarabedian said.
โThere were casualties this summer. Itโs a very crowded summer, very competitive,โ Dergarabedian said. โAt the end of the day, you canโt get to that four billion mark unless every movie just clicked and is performing at or above expectations.โ
This summer’s earnings were front-loaded, with May releases likeย โThunderboltsโย andย โLilo & Stitchโย becoming box office wins. However, the latter half of the summer struggled despiteย the success of movies like โWeapons.”
Dergarabedian said the summer succeeded in provided high-quality movies and marketing, but it’s โkind of limping a bit to the finish line in terms of the summer movie season.โ
The crime caperย โCaught Stealing,โย starring Austin Butler, generated $7.8 million domestically and snatched third place its debut weekend. Set in 1998 and directed byย Darren Aronofsky, the film follows Butler as a New York City bartender who is unexpectedly wrapped up the city’s crime world.
โFreakier Friday,โย which debuted alongside โWeaponsโ early this month for a successful humor/horror double feature, took fourth place, earning $6.5 million domestically.ย โThe Roses,โย another newcomer, came in fifth with $6.4 million.
โThe Fantastic Four: First Steps”ย landed in sixth place with $4.8 million. The Marvel superhero film hit box office gold during its late July entry,ย debuting at $118 million. The film, however,ย experienced a downward trend in earnings since its release.
โThe Bad Guys 2″ย came in just below โFirst Steps,โ with $4.7 million, followed byย โSuperman,โย an early July entry that generated $2.6 million during the Labor Day weekend.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1. โWeapons,โ $10.2 million.
2. โJaws (1975),โ $8.1 million.
3. โCaught Stealing,โ $7.8 million.
4. โFreakier Friday,โ $6.5 million.
5. โThe Roses,โ $6.4 million.
6. โThe Fantastic Four: First Steps,โ $4.8 million.
7. โThe Bad Guys 2,” $4.7 million.
8. โSuperman,โ $2.6 million.
9. โNobody 2,โ $1.8 million.
10. โThe Naked Gun,โ $1.8 million.
