Without any fresh competition in wide release, Hitman’s Bodyguard appears the be the holiday weekend’s movie of choice. The Lionsgate release with Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson at the center should earn $13.4 million from 3,370 locations over the four-day weekend. Its seemingly imminent win would make Hitman’s Bodyguard the only flick this summer to retain the top spot on the domestic box office charts for three consecutive weekends. Dunkirk, Wonder Woman, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 each stayed first for two frames.
But while the action comedy is certainly profitable at this point, its threepeat is less due to the movie’s overwhelming popularity, and more attributable to the lack of alternatives. This — the first Labor Day weekend in recent history without a new wide release — is tracking to have the lowest four-day total for the holiday in nearly two decades. The 28 movies currently in release are tracking to bring in about $95.5 million, according to ComScore. Not since 1998 has the Labor Day domestic box office dropped below a $100 million four-day total. The last time there were no wide releases over Labor Day weekend was in 1992.
Of the weekend’s medium-sized launches, Sony’s re-release of Close Encounters of the Third Kind is faring best. The 40th anniversary theatrical event is set to take in $2.3 million for the four-day holiday weekend from 901 locations. Meanwhile, TWC’s long-delayed release Tulip Fever is not finding its audience. The historical drama starring Alicia Vikander is expected to earn $1.4 million from 765 locations.
A unique collaboration between Marvel Television and ABC Studios brought Marvel’s Inhumans to 393 Imax screens in North America, where it is expected to earn $1.5 million. And Pantellion’s “Do It Like an Hombre” is looking at about $1.4 million for the four days at 382 locations.
Otherwise, Annabelle: Creation should remain in the two slot for Warner Bros. The horror sequel has an estimated three-day tally of $7.3 million from 3,358 locations, and is tracking for $9.3 million with the extended holiday.
