"Box Office Battle" is The Fly's weekly roundup of what movies topped the weekend's box office.
WEEKEND WINNER: Twentieth Century Fox's (FOX, FOXA) auto racing biographical drama "Ford v Ferrari," which stars Christian Bale and Matt Damon, easily outperformed estimates of ~$22M domestically, earnings $31M in its opening weekend. The film, which opened in 3,528 theaters, benefited from a 92% Rotten Tomatoes rating and an A+ CinemaScore.
BOX OFFICE RUNNERS-UP: The three runners up were all very tightly grouped, all finishing between $8M-$9M. Lionsgate's (LGF.A, LGF.B) World War II film "Midway," directed by Roland Emmerich, finished in second place with an estimated gross of $8.75M in its second weekend at theaters. Sony Pictures' (SNE) action comedy reboot "Charlie's Angels," starring Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, and Ella Balinska, finished in third place in its opening weekend with $8.6M, well below expectations of a $13M open. In fourth place was Viacom (VIA, VIAB) subsidiary Paramount's family comedy "Playing with Fire," starring John Cena, which only dropped an estimated 33% in its second weekend at theaters to finish at $8.55M.
'JOKER' SETS RECORD: AT&T (T) subsidiary Warner Bros.' super-villain origin "Joker" became the first R-rated film to gross over $1B at the global box office after it added $13M internationally this weekend, bringing its overall cume to $1.017B.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE:
- Ford v Ferrari - $31M
- Midway - $8.75M
- Charlie's Angels - $8.6M
- Playing with Fire - $8.55M
- Last Christmas - $6.7M
Other publicly traded companies in filmmaking include Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK) and Disney (DIS).
