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Lego Ninjago Movie.jpg

Box Office Report: What The Hell is a Ninjago?

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | September 25, 2017 |

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | September 25, 2017 |


Finally, some new life has been brutally beaten into the box office this week, although the results were decidedly mixed. Matthew Vaughn’s sequel to surprise hit Kingsman easily took the top spot with $39m from over 4000 theatres despite weak reviews, although initial projections were a little higher. Kingsman: The Golden Circle was evidently designed to appeal more to an American audience, thanks to new cast members like Channing Tatum and Halle Berry, and it has certainly opened bigger worldwide than its predecessor. Its franchise prospects remain solid, which probably won’t be said for star Taron Egerton’s upcoming ‘edgy’ Robin Hood movie, something we all definitely asked for.

It is still floating high at number two, with another $30m in the bank, taking its domestic gross past $266m and bringing its international numbers to $500m. This’ll easily become one of the biggest films of the year if it keeps this up for another month or two. On the bright side, between Bill Skarsgard’s weird-hot face and the gay Pennywise boyfriend of the Babadook meme, that fucking clown scares me a lot less than he used to.

The biggest stumble of the new releases came in the form of The LEGP Ninjago Movie, a thing I’ve been told is apparently a real movie. Based on one of LEGO’s few original properties not licensed from elsewhere, the film received mildly positive reviews but generated nowhere near the buzz or enthusiasm its brick building predecessors did, landing it at number 3 this week with a $21m debut from over 4000 theatres. By comparison, The LEGO Batman Movie took in $53m domestically on its opening weekend in a similar number of cinemas. I still don’t really know what a Ninjago is or how it is pronounced. Yes, I will stop yelling at that cloud soon.

mother! couldn’t even stay in the top 5 after two weeks, dropping to 6 with $3.2m. The change in advertising - Come see the movie everyone’s talking about or at least yelling about - doesn’t seem to have had much impact out of Film Twitter, where the film’s merits and inability to find a wider audience have generated more buzzy tweets than any discussion of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. could ever hope to.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s biographical drama Stronger opened in 574 theatres this weekend and took in a solid $1.74m for its troubles. Reviews have been encouraging, with many praising its truly inspirational beats and Gyllenhaal’s lead performance, which will help bolster its inevitable awards run. Oh, you thought you’d seen Oscar hunger? Wait until Jake comes out swinging! Limited releases fared well this weekend, including Battle of the Sexes, which took in over half a million dollars from 21 theatres, and Victoria and Abdul, which grossed $152,000 from 4 screens. Oscars are in the air and the handshakes are in full force.

This week’s new releases include the latest Tom Cruise vehicle American Made, the sequel to Flatliners that feels so timely and necessary, a faith based drama starring C. Thomas Howell I hope nobody tries to make Rebecca review, and the final film from the late great Harry Dean Stanton.

You can check out the rest of the weekend box office here.

What film did you see this weekend? Does Mark Millar’s strained nihilism bore you too? What do you think date night is like between Pennywise and the Babadook? Is it pronounced ‘Ninja-Go’ or ‘Nin-Ja-go’? How much eye-rolling has Darren Aronofsky elicited from you over the past fortnight? Let us know in the comments.