“The Dark Tower” Delivers Second-Smallest No. 1 Debut of 2017

By Kip Mooney • On • In Weekend Box Office Report Weekend Box Office Report 0

BOX OFFICE REPORT

August 4-6, 2017

(estimates from BoxOfficeMojo.com)

TOP 5

The Dark Tower  $19.5 million
Dunkirk  $17.6 million
The Emoji Movie  $12.3 million
Girls Trip $11.4 million
Kidnap $10.2 million

After years in development hell, the film adaptation of the Dark Tower finally saw the light of day and audiences said, "Eh." Despite the star power of Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba, as well as being based on one of the most beloved Stephen King's novels, bad reviews and stories of troubled production factored into its blasé reception. The film earned only $19.5 million. That was enough to be the top film of the weekend, but the only movie to earn less this year and still take the top spot was the third weekend of Split back in February.

Dunkirk and The Emoji Movie each slipped down a spot. The former is now the fourth-biggest World War II movie ever, behind Saving Private Ryan, Pearl Harbor and the first Captain America flick. The animated film only fell 50 percent and nearly crossed $50 million. That's not great, but still surprising considering how atrocious the reviews were.

Girls Trip wasn't far behind, and as it approaches $100 million, it's clear it's one of the surprise successes of the year. (Well, it's clear to everyone but Hollywood studios, who don't greenlight more movies starring African-Americans.) And Halle Berry turned in another lead performance in material that's beneath her talent in Kidnap. That film earned $10.2 million, which is likely a tidy profit for the film that didn't have any other big-name stars.

Outside the top 5:

  • This Weekend's Indie Champ: Wind River, a crime procedural from Taylor Sheridan, writer of both Hell or High Water and Sicario. It averaged a whopping $41,042 on just four screens. That's the third-biggest indie debut after The Big Sick and The Beguiled.
  • Detroit didn't quite catch on with mainstream audiences. The latest Kathryn Bigelow thriller only earned $7.2 million, which was only good enough for eighth place.
  • It's just a little bit off, but we'll go ahead and congratulate it: Wonder Woman has just about crossed $400 million, making it the 27th movie to do so.

Next weekend:

Annabelle: Creation is almost certain to be the top movie, given the weakness of the competition and how often audiences turn out for a horror flick its first weekend. I don't predict the more indie-minded The Glass Castle or the animated sequel The Nut Job 2 will put up much of a fight.

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About Kip Mooney

Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.

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