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Sunday July 23, 2017

'Dunkirk,' 'Girls Trip' Win Weekend; 'Wonder Woman' Tops Summer Box Office

Dunkirk box office

Go.

A summer movie for adults, Christopher Nolan's “Dunkirk,” about the evacuation of British soldiers from Europe at the start of World War II, won the weekend with a $50 million haul. It added another $55 million from abroad. 

Its numbers are good but nothing to change the risk-averse, tentpole mindset of Hollywood execs. To put it in perspective: It's just the 13th-best opening of the year, domestically, on par with “Boss Baby,” but ahead of the latest “Transformers,” so we'll take our victories where we can find them. (Kind of like Dunkirk.) The movie only got made, I'm sure, because of Nolan's success with “The Dark Knight” series, so enjoy while you can. I am. I'm seeing it tomorrow.

OK, but will this year change the mindset of some Hollywood execs? This weekend, after all, “Wonder Woman” added another $4.6 million to reach $389 domestic, surpassing “Guardians of the Galaxy 2” to become the summer's biggest hit. It's now the second biggest movie of the year—after “Beauty and the Beast,” which opened in March, and which grossed $504 million. Meaning the two biggest movies of the year star women. Remember that demographic, Hollywood?

Or how about this one? The second-biggest movie of the weekend was the well-reviewed, raunchy “Girls Trip,” starring Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Regina Hall, et al., which got $30 mil stuffed down its trunks. 

“Spider-Man: Homecoming” dropped another 50% to gross $22 mil more, good enough for third place and $251 overall. Can Spidey swing toward $300? Would like to think he's got it in him. The movie was good. People should go. 

The well-reviewed “War for the Planet of the Apes,” meanwhile, dropped a hefty 63% and fell from first to fourth place, with $20 mil and $97 overall. I still need to see it. 

The other big opener, which earned mixed reviews (54% on RT), Luc Besson's “Valerian and the ... yadda yadda,” didn't prop any tentpoles: $17 mil for fifth place. I have no interest. 

My movie, “The Big Sick,” fell just 33% and added another $5 mil to its numbers. It's now at $24 mil. It should be way higher than that. This is the movie to see this summer, folks. Go. 

Posted at 11:04 AM on Sunday July 23, 2017 in category Movies - Box Office