The fourth installment of the action-packed franchise, "Expend4bles," starring Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham, experienced a disappointing debut at the box office. According to Comscore, it had the franchise's worst opening weekend, earning a mediocre $8.3 million. Despite featuring popular names like Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Megan Fox, and Dolph Lundgren, the film failed to attract a large audience. This is in stark contrast to the previous film in the series which opened with $15.8 million and went on to gross $214 million globally.
Meanwhile, "The Nun 2" continued its dominance at the box office for the third consecutive week. The horror movie, which is a spinoff from the successful "Conjuring" franchise, brought in $8.4 million in its first week. With a total gross of over $69 million so far, the Michael Chaves-directed sequel has proven to be a solid performer for Warner Bros.
In third place, "A Haunting in Venice" earned $6.3 million. This film is Kenneth Branagh's third adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel, following the success of "Murder on the Orient Express" in 2017 and "Death on the Nile" in 2022. After just two weeks, it has already accumulated a gross of $25.3 million.
"Denzel Washington's "The Equalizer 3" dropped to the fourth position with $4.725 million. However, it has still managed to accumulate an impressive total of $81.1 million domestically after four weeks of release.
The summer hit "Barbie" continues to perform well, earning $3.2 million this week and bringing its domestic total to over $630 million after a remarkable 10-week run. The Greta Gerwig-directed film remains in the top five, displaying strong staying power at the box office.
Sixth place was secured by "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3" with $3 million, while the horror film "It Lives Inside" opened to a modest $2.6 million in its first week. The financial drama "Dumb Money" remained steady in the eighth position for the second consecutive week, grossing $2.5 million.
"Blue Beetle" slipped to ninth place, earning $1.8 million, and the Christopher Nolan-directed film "Oppenheimer" rounded out the top 10 with $1.6 million. With a total domestic gross of $321 million, "Oppenheimer" continues to draw audiences despite the challenging times for the film industry.
Overall, this week's box office figures reflect the ongoing challenges faced by the industry. Many Hollywood projects remain on hold due to strikes by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Writers Guild of America. Consequently, there continues to be a limited output of new films, impacting overall box office numbers.
Please note that these figures are preliminary estimates and final domestic figures will be released on Monday.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1. "The Nun II" - $8.4 million
2. "Expend4bles" - $8.3 million
3. "A Haunting in Venice" - $6.3 million
4. "The Equalizer 3" - $4.7 million
5. "Barbie" - $3.2 million
6. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3" - $3 million
7. "It Lives Inside" - $2.6 million
8. "Dumb Money" - $2.5 million
9. "Blue Beetle" - $1.8 million
10. "Oppenheimer" - $1.6 million.